Pilots’ fear Botany cruise terminal will lead to turbulence
PILOTS are concerned the planned cruise terminal for Botany Bay will cause turbulence for aircraft coming in to land and at take off.
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PILOTS are concerned the planned cruise terminal for Botany Bay will cause turbulence for aircraft coming in to land and at take off.
Officials from the Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), which represents 2250 Qantas Group pilots, have said they are awaiting further details before making a representation to government authorities.
AIPA vice president Shane Loney said there were two potential issues.
The first is that giant cruise ships would create a potential obstacle, both visually and also physically particularly in the case of an emergency landing or other incident.
Mr Loney explained there is an Obstacle Limitation Surface (OLS) which he fears cruise ships could enter.
“There is an issue generally here with overbuilding and putting financial benefits above safety considerations. Not enough work is being done to understand the risks.”
The second concern is that large buildings and indeed ships close to the runway could cause what is known as wind-induced turbulence.
Earlier this year the AIPA objected to new cranes being installed at Port Botany because of the same concerns. In a letter to the airport planning manager Mr Loney said a southerly wind will “create a turbulent wake from either a docked ship or a ship in transit in the shipping channel that impinges on the runway”.
He added that given the significant bulk of cruise ships this would be a concern.
“The larger the building or structure the more turbulence,” he said. “Given cruise ships have a lot of ship above the water line there is no doubt potential to cause problems in this area.”
A business plan is being prepared for a cruise terminal at Molineaux Point or Yarra Bay with experts predicting it could be operational by 2024.
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