Passengers Shouldn’t Worry About Jetstar, Pacific Blue

Your newspaper’s coverage of the Jetstar and Pacific Blue safety incidents is tawdry and sensationalist. Its timing does damage to Air NZ’s competitors just weeks out from one of them commencing competition on domestic routes. The placement of these stories on the front page helps raise doubts in the mind of the travelling public.

The passengers basically had no idea what was going on. Even professional pilots riding in the back, without instrumentation and being unable to see the forward view, have little idea of what is happening.

It is normal to fly a second approach to fog-bound airports if fuel reserves allow it. If runway or runway lighting is in sight, descent below minima on an approach is allowed provided reported visibility is at or above that prescribed on the approach chart. A crew may still elect to go around from below the decision altitude if they consider it prudent.

No industry has such stringent safety criteria and reporting considerations in place as the airline industry. Jetstar and Pacific Blue fly some of the newest, most modern fleets in this part of the world. Travellers take their lives in their hands to a far greater extent on NZ roads than they do when flying.

CHARLES KUIPERS Kaiapoi

(c) 2007 Press, The; Christchurch, New Zealand. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.