The historic fighter aircraft was being flown from Wanaka to Auckland to take part in an Air Display. A brief landing was planned at Woodbourne to refuel. The pilot made a standard approach to grass runway 07 with allowance for the light crosswind. Shortly after a normal touchdown, an unexpected gust caused a swing to the right. Braking action was uneffective on the wet grass and the pilot applied power for a go-around, but the aircraft slid sideways and the left undercarriage collapsed at the edge of the asphalt taxiway which crossed the grass runway at right angles.
Incident date: Publish date:ZK-KID, a high performance homebuilt design, was owned and operated by the pilot who had constructed the aircraft himself. He had flown to Alexandra to attend a Chapter meeting of the NZ Amateur Aircraft Constructors Association. A "mini-competition" was held to round off the afternoon's activities. Part of the set exercises involved flying a figure eight pattern at 500 feet above aerodrome level. During the second half of this manoeuvre ZK-KID was observed to lose height while turning from a downwind heading to crosswind at a steep angle of bank.
Incident date: Publish date:The aircraft, with one passenger on board, had landed at Wellington Airport at the conclusion of a scheduled flight from Koromiko Aerodrome. While taxing from the runway to the terminal the aircraft was blown over by a strong wind gust, coming to rest inverted. The pilot and passenger were uninjured. A northwesterly gust of 42 knots was recorded at about the time of the mishap.
Incident date: Publish date:The pilot hired the two seat aircraft for a local flight with the intention of flying over Glenbrook where his passenger lived. A number of witnesses saw the aircraft flying in the area at a moderately low height and circling around. It particularly attracted attention when the engine sound was heard to change, described variously as throttled back, or stopping briefly, then increasing. The aircraft was seen to turn left from a southerly heading toward the north-east. It then went suddenly into a very steep dive while turning or twisting to the left.
Incident date: Publish date:The helicopter was departing for the first heliski trip of the day with a guide and four clients on board. It had reached a height of about 200 feet, and airspeed was increasing above 35 knots, when the engine failed. The pilot lowered collective, maintained forward speed and set up an autorotative descent to the large snow covered paddock below. The helicopter contacted the ground heavily, collapsing the skids, and slid some 60m in the soft snow before coming to rest upright. The occupants were uninjured.
Incident date: Publish date:The helicopter was engaged in an aerial survey of Central Electric's distribution system. The pilot and technician conducting the survey, which utilised GPS equipment to pinpoint individual power pole positions, were accompanied by a line surveyor from the local electrical supply authority who acted as a guide and supplementary lookout. During the course of mapping a roadside 11kV line, the helicopter collided with the Roxburgh-Islington A 220kV line. The reactive forces of the rotor strike tore the transmission and engine from the airframe.
Incident date: Publish date:ZK-CVG was on a positioning flight from Mount Cook to Fox Glacier in order to conduct some scenic flights, while ZK-HEA was on a local scenic flight from Fox Glacier when a collision occurred. ZK-HEA was landed safely but ZK-CVG descended out of control to the riverbed. The pilot was killed in the ground impact.
Incident date: Publish date:The pilot was to fly three passengers from Great Barrier Aerodrome to Auckland Airport. She commenced taxiing the aircraft at a slow walking pace from the parking area to the take-off point for runway 24. The rising sun shining through the windscreen from a low angle made taxiing difficult and the pilot did not recognise that the aircraft was tracking toward a 1.5m deep drainage ditch. The pilot sighted a marker tyre in an unexpected position but was unsuccessful in an attempt to change the aircraft's direction.
Incident date: Publish date:An Air New Zealand B737 was on final approach to runway 16, at Wellington Airport when a Piper PA38 Tomahawk was cleared to cross from Wellington City to Petone, maintaining visual separation. The aircraft converged until a loss of separation occurred. Both aircraft were flying in visual meteorological conditions (VMC). The pilot of the Tomahawk attempted to take evasive action. The aircraft passed in opposite directions with about 350 m between them. None of the 68 persons on board the aircraft were injured.
Incident date: Publish date:On the second landing of a familiarisation flight in the tailwheel aircraft, the pilot under instruction flared too high. The aircraft "skipped" onto the main wheels and a series of rudder overcorrections ensued in the pilot's attempts to maintain directional control. The aircraft groundlooped to the right, the left undercarriage collapsed, and the left wingtip struck the ground.
Incident date: Publish date:During a hunting sortie, in which the helicopter was being flown with both doors removed, the pilot manoeuvred the helicopter adjacent to a steep slope to enable the shooter to fire at a deer. The next moment the pilot saw the shooter "flying out the door" and falling some 30 or 40 feet on to the tussock and scrub covered slope. The pilot flew from the area temporarily to summon assistance and subsequently picked up a local doctor and transported him to the scene. The shooter survived the fall but sustained severe injuries to his back and lower limbs.
Incident date: Publish date:ZK-FKF was the second in a loose formation of three microlight aircraft which had taken off from Pikes Point Aerodrome, to fly to Raglan. While the formation was flying over the Manukau Harbour, parallel to the north shore, the aircraft was seen to dutch roll, then pitch nose-down. The right wing folded at about one-third span, and the aircraft fell into the sea, killing the pilot.
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