https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/ ... tage-planeThe Royal New Zealand Airforce and Warbirds Over Wanaka have been ordered to pay more than $616,000 to replace a vintage aeroplane damaged when it hit a cherry picker in a crash at the airshow.
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Justice Jillian Mallon found that air force squadron leader James Patrick Rankin breached a duty of care to Dovey by directing the cherry pickers be moved without checking with flight display director Christopher Lee whether they would constitute a hazard.
Rankin did not alert pilots to the presence of the cherry pickers and relied on assumptions about where Dovey would land.
Lee, who was working for Warbirds Over Wanaka, did not check where the cherry pickers had been moved to, and the organisation substituted an F-16 opening display with a new opening display with insufficient time to carry out a proper risk assessment.
The organisation had earlier provided a briefing that the centre grass was available as a runway, Justice Mallon’s decision says.
She found Dovey should have advised the display director that he would not be able to see the runway on landing.
Justice Mallon awarded Dovey Aviation Consulting Ltd $616,500 plus GST and interest against the air force and Warbirds Over Wanaka.
She did not apportion amounts and reserved leave for the parties to apply for that apportionment if necessary.