From
www.stuff.co.nz NZ CAA silent over air safety meeting
06 June 2006
Besieged Civil Aviation Authority chairman Ron Tannock left a meeting with Transport Minister Annette King this morning refusing to comment on the outcome.
Mr Tannock said a joint statement would be issued later today after the pair met for more than an hour and a half.
The CAA was hauled in after a series of critical comments about its performance, particularly its monitoring of the safety of small airlines.
Mr Tannock said it had been a "long and very frank discussion" which he would comment on alongside the minister later today.
Asked if he was safe in his position, Mr Tannock said: "I don't think that is an issue at the moment".
He refused to make any further comment.
Ms King called Mr Tannock and his deputy, Hazel Armstrong, last week after a coroner's report raised concerns about the authority's monitoring of an airline involved in a eight-fatality plane crash in 2003.
Today's meeting took place exactly three years after the crash in which pilot Michael Bannerman and seven passengers were killed near Christchurch Airport.
Last week the CAA was also criticised by pilots over the operation of Taupo airport.
Last month MPs expressed concern that the authority's monitoring of "ratbag" airlines could be endangering people's lives.
The concerns followed the Auditor-General's office saying it could report little progress that there had been any improvements following damning CAA audits in 1997, 2000 and 2005.
Among the Auditor-General's findings were that CAA inspectors often ignored procedures for monitoring, recording and following up "critical findings", with one taking more than 400 days to be checked.
Critical findings are ones that place life at risk.
The CAA has said it has acted on the concerns and substantial progress has been made with accident rates falling.
Battern down the hatches here comes a big s
t fight!!
