Canberra Airport has slammed what it described as a "disgraceful" and "grubby" campaign it says is using the Essendon Airport crash to cast doubt on its safety.
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Airport managing director Stephen Byron said a former pilot, who he did not name, was trying to draw a number of media outlets into reporting safety problems caused by buildings around the airport.
"The attempt is to draw an analogy between the tragic crash at Essendon, and the safety of operations at Canberra Airport, and the insinuation is that buildings at airports are unsafe and that buildings at airports caused the accident at Essendon Airport, and because we too have a shopping centre at Canberra Airport that there is a danger to aircraft here at Canberra Airport," Mr Byron said.
He said there was no danger to aircraft flying in and out of the airport, that the Civil Aviation Safety Authority reviewed its operations, and that airlines using it weren't concerned about its building locations and safety.
"It's not a furphy, it's just a disgraceful leveraging of a very tragic accident at Essendon to try and impugn the record and reputation and commitment to safety that we have at Canberra Airport."
When The Canberra Times approached the Australian Airline Pilots' Association, it said considerable and unidentified turbulence from nearby buildings may risk damaging aircraft landing at Canberra airport.
AusALPA, representing pilots on safety and technical matters, did not draw any link between the crash at Essendon and safety at Canberra Airport, nor did it claim building-induced turbulence caused the incident.
Building-generated turbulence could severely limit the performance of aircraft, and the ability to control them at Canberra, it says.
"In the most severe of cases, an aircraft may be seriously damaged on landing, or run off the side of the runway," AusALPA safety and technical officer Marcus Diamond said.
Turbulence caused by nearby development affected one runway, RW 35, in strong westerly and north-westerly winds, Mr Diamond said.
Canberra Airport said it rejected suggestions that the airport was unsafe.
"Numerous studies over the past 20 years and our safety record have reinforced that assertion," a spokeswoman said.
Wind expert reports showed it complied with national safeguarding guideline requirements, she said.
AusALPA has called for efforts to map pre-existing turbulence and windshear - a change in winds experienced by an aircraft - for risk mitigation and avoidance strategies.
A spokeswoman for Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester said approvals for major developments on airport sites must be made after considering advice from CASA and Airservices Australia.
"In providing such views, CASA and Airservices assess the safety and operational impact of any major developments, including their proximity to airside infrastructure such as runways," she said.
Canberra Aero Club director Tony Smart in February said open, undeveloped fields surrounding Canberra Airport gave pilots enough space to land if something went wrong, helping to avoid a tragedy like the crash in Essendon.
While Brindabella Business Park neighboured Canberra Airport, it sat off the middle of the main north-south runway, out of the paths of aircraft, Mr Smart said.
The National Airports Safeguarding Advisory Group is updating the national airports safeguarding guideline managing the risk of building-generated windshear and turbulence at airports, and is reviewing submissions.
