Baby dies before mum arrives at Wellington Hospital after medical flight to Kāpiti airport diverted

Friday, 8 January 2021

George Jenkins, from Kāpiti hapū Puketapu, on what the land at Kāpiti Coast Airport means to him and other descendants of the original owners, who are fighting to get it back. (First published September 2020)

A medical flight bound for Kāpiti Airport had to be diverted to Palmerston North, a 90-minute drive away, after Kāpiti Airport was closed because of a security threat.

Stuff understands the plane was transporting a woman from Nelson so that she could be with her seriously ill baby, who was being treated at Wellington Hospital.

The newborn is believed to have died before the mother arrived at the hospital.

Kāpiti Airport, where a medical flight was supposed to land on December 13, but was unable to as the runway lights were mistakenly switched off. (File photo)

Several investigations are underway into what went wrong. Kāpiti Airport was already at the centre of some controversy amid speculation that the current owner, NZPropCo, planned to close the airport soon.

* Kāpiti Airport closed following threat on social media

* Fears lives will be lost with Kāpiti Airport closure

An aerial view of Kāpiti Airport at Paraparaumu, a 45 minute drive north of Wellington. (File photo)

The incident unfolded on December 13 when Kāpiti Airport temporarily shut due to a “potential security event”.

Despite the temporary closure during the security alert last month, the plane the woman was on should have been able to land at the airport, which is located at Paraparaumu, about a 45-minute journey by road north of Wellington, as it was classified as an emergency flight.

But in the rush to evacuate, aerodrome flight information service (AFIS) workers failed to turn on the runway lights, as per normal procedure at the end of the last shift of the day.

Wellington Hospital, where a Westpac Rescue Helicopter transported a woman to after the medical flight she was on board was diverted to Palmerston North. (File photo)

The threat was reported to police and New Zealand’s air navigation service provider Airways, which employs the airport's AFIS staff, decided to remove staff from the tower about 11.45am.

Dani Simpson, a spokeswoman for NZPropCo, said staff were too upset to return to their duties and the airport remained closed until 2.30pm the next day after police ensured it was safe to reopen.

The air ambulance the woman was on board, operated by Air Wanganui, circled above Kāpiti Airport at about midnight, as the pilot tried to trigger the automatic runway lights.

Wellington Airport was closed at the time for scheduled runway maintenance, so the flight was diverted to Palmerston North Airport, where it landed safely.

Life Flight then flew the woman in the Westpac Rescue Helicopter from Palmerston North to Wellington Hospital at about 1am on December 14.

It is understood that by the time the chopper landed, her baby had died.

An Airways spokeswoman said the company had reported the failure to turn on the runway lights to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA). It would also review its processes for leaving a tower under urgency, she said.

NZPropCo had also made a report to the CAA and would conduct an internal investigation into the airport’s safety management procedures.

“We will be working with any agency that decides to conduct a review of the incident,” Simpson said.

The threat which sparked the airport's closure were made by people who didn’t agree with the airport's decision to close the runway for several hours each day during summer due to an AFIS staffing shortage.

Simpson said the behaviour of those responsible for the threat was “completely unacceptable” and they needed to realise it had serious and direct consequences.

The CAA had not launched an investigation but was discussing the matter with Airways.

The Capital and Coast District Health Board’s quality improvement and patient safety director, Sandy Blake, confirmed that the DHB was aware of the incident, and said it was reviewing it.

Blake said she could not comment on individual cases for privacy reasons and could not provide further information before the review was completed.

“In general terms, however, we can advise that the closure of both Wellington and Kāpiti airports does impact on the ability of the aeromedical retrieval service to provide timely services,” she said.

Nelson Marlborough DHB chief medical officer Dr Nick Baker said his organisation was also aware of the circumstances and would consider what happened to see if lessons could be learned.

Air Wanganui chief executive Dean Martin said he could not comment before the reviews were completed.

Police have closed their investigation into the threat and will not be laying charges.