Safety Improvements are Urgent
I and many other pilots based at Barton have taken this incident very hard, it is just so sad. Whilst we await the AAIB investigation results it is of no consolation to the family of the pilot who has died or for the young guy who is still on the critical list.
I was at Barton yesterday talking to a number of pilots who are based there and to some of the staff who help to run the airport, together with a few instructors. All of us agreed that taking off from runways 09R or 09L presents an almost impossible situation if one encounters engine problems on take-off. I understand that the media have been positive pests in approaching various personnel at Ravenair and Barton. They have been desperate to get hold of the names of the two people involved so that they can probably pester their family's.
The airport was certainly there before the houses, in fact long before. It does appear to be stupid to build houses so close to an airport. I see that the airport is closed today and that a crane is operating 650m from the airport - I pressume this is related to recovering wreckage, but gives a clear idea of just how far the aircraft had travelled before the crash.
Whatever the AAIB results show, there will be questions raised as to how safety can be improved. Taking off from runways 27R or 27L creates far less of a problem should one encounter an engine failure on take-off as there is very little by way of property to avoid. There are some electricity pylons at 273 ft across the flight path but one can probably avoid these.
Those familiar with Barton know that all runways are grass, bumpy and not that long. This means that a decision to abort a take-off can be a dilema. (I do not generally take passengers out of Barton preferring to use another aircraft at John Lennon Airport Liverpool.) Many pilots have been pressing for improvements to the runways for several years and asked for at least one tarmac runway. The airport is operated by Peel Holdings and hopefully they will now come forward with some positive solutions.
Ironically Ravenair Flight Training School at Barton was to close last Friday and relocate to Liverpool. Their remaining Tomahawk was transferred to Liverpool yesterday.