Airport officials in the ACT have raised legitimate concerns over the location of a new solar farm, which has the potential to blind pilots as they try to fly near the Canberra Airport.

Authorities say that lives would be at risk if pilots’ attention was interrupted even for a few seconds as they make their crucial approach. The Airport has reportedly brought in the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) for a second review of the solar plan, despite the safety group having already given written approval.

The 4MW solar photovoltaic project is a joint effort by two companies using funds from the ACT government’s feed in tariff program for medium sized development. It is not the first such project to be built near an airport. Reports have highlighted a 1.2MW array near the runway of the San Jose Airport, an 8MW setup adjacent to the strip of the Thunder Bay airport in Ontario as well as solar farms on the flight paths into Adelaide, Ballarat and Alice Springs.

Canberra Airport managing director Stephen Byron pointed to US Air Force studies finding that flashes of bright lights caused pilots to lose vision for up to twelve seconds, saying in an interview last week: “On what planet do we have to be to work out that this is probably not a smart idea to allow the construction of this aviation safety hazard?”

Stefan Jarnason, a director of Solar Fields said: “There are literally hundreds of airports in Australia and around the world with large solar PV installations located under the flight path and even on the airport ground.”