Mackay Port Authority Kites cause concern Article first published on Thursday, 6 May 2004 @ 9:09:38 AM

The Mackay Port Authority is appealing to people not to fly kites in the vicinity of the airport, after youngsters unwittingly put security officers on alert this week.

Air traffic controllers called in airport security after spotting a kite in the flight path of a helicopter, preparing to land on Runway 14 near the Bridge Road hockey fields on Monday afternoon.

Airport general manager Trevor Heard said the helicopter landed safely, but the incident highlighted the potential dangers kites could pose to aircraft.

 “There have been cases overseas where kites have tangled with aircraft, including helicopters and passenger jets,” he said.

“Kites have the potential to break windscreens and damage engines after being sucked into the turbines. This could easily bring down a plane.

“The danger is very real and we are appealing to people to fly their kites away from the airport area.”

Mr Heard said Monday’s incident was far from an isolated case.

“A little while ago we had an incident in which a person flying a box kite elected to tie the kite controls to a caravan and went into town shopping,” he said.

“The kite was left flying about 100 metres off the ground in the flight path of Runway 23.”

Meantime, Peter Gibson from the Civil Aviation Safety Authority has echoed the MPA's concerns.

“In Mackay you have a situation where you have a beach and a playing field on the approaches to two busy runways,” he said.

“All I can do is urge people to go elsewhere. The potential for a serious incident is always there – even though I wouldn’t describe it as a high risk.

“What we are about is eliminating all possible risks and this is one that doesn’t need to be there so I guess I’m just urging people to use a little commonsense.”