Failing to See the Light - after Five Years

Two Qantas 737 pilots, charged under the Civil Aviation Act for a 2001 offence, have still not been tried. They allegedly took off from Launceston Tasmania for Melbourne Victoria on October 23, 2001 without first activating by radio the runway, taxiway or obstacle lights. Even though ambient light for getting airborne can be sufficient on the ground (pilots may think), that may not be the case in the event of an urgent turnback. The Comair 5191 pilots essentially disproved all theories about there being sufficient ambient lighting when they took the wrong Kentucky runway before dawn earlier this year - and failed to get airborne.

The Qantas pilots were not suspended or stood down; they remain on full flying duties. Former Civil Aviation Safety Authority chairman Dick Smith said he could not understand why more than five years had elapsed since the incident and the matter had still to be tested by the courts. He said the public had a right to know what had happened, and any uncertainty hanging over the pilots needed to be resolved.

"Five years is ... far too long," he said. "I just cannot imagine what has been used and what money has been spent to delay the hearing for this long. Every pilot should be concerned." Acting senior assistant director Mark de Crespigny, of the Director of Public Prosecutions office, said in a letter to Mr Smith that the office was continuing the prosecution. But he also claimed that: "The setting down of the matter for trial has been delayed largely due to procedural issues over which this office has no control. We are hopeful that the issues can be resolved and that this matter can be finalized in the near future."

A spokesman for the Civil Aviation Safety Authority said the timing of the trial was a matter for the DPP but that he understood a trial date had now been set. Let there be light.