A Piper Aztec from Mackay ran off the runway at Brampton Island yesterday, ending up severely bogged and about a foot from going over the edge of the strip onto the beach.
Eyewitnesses on Brampton watched the aircraft land with 10knots of downwind on an already shortened strip, landing very long and fast.
The pilot allegedly claimed her brakes failed, however after being towed out of the bog she flew back to Mackay without the aircraft being checked by an engineer for the 'apparent brake failure'.
On arrival in Mackay she was met by CASA airworthiness, subsequent inspection showed no faults with the braking system.
This is at least the fourth such incident for this Mackay operator and it’s principals.
The same pilot and operator previously wrote off a Cherokee at Keswick Island, an Auster on the beach in Mackay and gutsed a Baron in Townsville.
The same operator was also the first one to violate the new airspace on the first day of introduction.
I guess having an ex CASA FOI from the local office as a business partner appears to make them exempt from the same minute scrutiny that other NQ operators are forced to tolerate!
Surely CASA should look hard and deep into this operation, or is there an element of “protection” involved?
