Pacific Blue pilot charged with endangering safety

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I agree with your comments TDK Mk2.

While not wishing to initiate thread drift, I would like to see the debate move from " is he guilty or not ?" to the basic question of whether or not NZQN is suitable for the operation of high performance swept-wing jets.

A company I used to work for initiated RNP approaches and departures in order to avoid the scud-running in days of old. The methodology of the introduction, while found wanting in a number of areas was condoned and eventually approved by the regulator in equipment that could easily be argued to be totally unsuitable for the job.

IMHO NZQN is an accident waiting to happen in a Transport Category jet, and I would like to see informed debate from the pilots who conduct these ops, as to whether or not it is an appropriate jet destination.

Please put aside your company and commercial predudices ( " we have to do it because they do " ) and discuss the appropriate risk management strategies, taking into account weather, terrain, wind, traffic etc.

The Pac Blue flight in question is by no means the first serious incident to occur there, it is simply the one that made the media. For the record, while I don't condone what the PIC did, I can certainly understand the choices he was faced with. There but for the grace ...