TK
With regard to your comment "...... But, isn't the point that at the present point in time the department deems the Taranaki Base Hospital pad to be a Cat A, Performance Class 1 pad and really everything else is irrelevant?"
Do you know that the department has deemed the pad to be Cat A, Performance Class 1? I only know that the operator has decided that the A119 cannot comply, so is now operating elsewhere. Every helicopter has differing performance, which will be affected by AUW, some twin engine helicopters at a high AUW will not comply either. The press, and non helicopter pilots (Trust managers etc), have really been struggling to understand the issue.