An air traffic control assessment at Hamilton's airport had to be stopped, with the assessor taking over for the controller on duty, after witnessing four incidents including a near miss between to planes.
The incident, which took place in December 2015, was revealed today in a report published by the Transport Accident Investigations Commission.
No one was injured, according to the report.
During the assessment, two people were on duty inside the air traffic control tower during a peak period for the aerodrome - described as one of the busiest in the country.
"The incidents occurred because the controller became overwhelmed by the circumstances on the day and lost situational awareness of the aircraft within the control zone," the Commission determined in its report.
"The Commission also found that the usual briefing procedure before conducting the assessment was not fully followed, and that this likely affected the team dynamics in the control tower."
Of the four incidents cited by the Commission, the most harrowing appeared to be a lapse that allowed two light aircraft to come within .2 nautical miles of each other, Stuff reported today. Two other aircraft were also involved.
The Commission blamed in part the "tradition of posting recently qualified controllers with limited experience" at the airport. It also noted that some controllers were unnecessarily congesting the radio frequencies, making it more difficult for novice pilots and those whose first language isn't English.
"A number of safety actions were taken" in the wake of the incident, the report states.
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