Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

[Investigated on behalf of the Government of Solomon Islands. Direct any inquiries for copy of the report to the Minister of Transport of that State]

The aircraft landed at Wellington ahead of schedule. All gates were full. While taxiing in a confined area in order to wait for the allocated gate to become clear the right wingtip of the aircraft struck the roof of a nearby covered walkway. A sealed area which would normally have provided a holding bay was occupied by a VIP car and two escort vehicles.

[Investigated on behalf of the Government of the Cook Islands. Direct any inquiries for copy of the report to the Minister of Transport of that State]

[Investigated on behalf of the Government of Vanuatu. Direct any inquiries for copy of the report to the Minister of Transport of that State]

The pilot carried out two flights in her own hang glider before making a short flight, essentially an aborted auto-tow launch, in the accident glider. She had no difficulty gliding into the field from a height of some 40 or 50 feet. The second launch started normally but as the glider approached the usual top of climb point its nose up attitude increased by about 15, the tow rope parted, and the glider pitched up to a near vertical position.

The pilot flew a party of five tourists to land on the airstrip near the summit of Mt Tarawera. The approach and touchdown, in tail and crosswind conditions, was routine and an initial application of left brake gave no cause for concern. On the second application there was no response from the left brake and the aircraft began to drift to the right. The aircraft over ran the airstrip, went through some soft ground, and came to rest substantially damaged in a boulder strewn area of alpine scrub. The left mainwheel brake unit disc assembly had been weakened by corrosion and had failed.

At the conclusion of a brief local flight the pilot descended the helicopter over the Dart River. The helicopter collided with a pair of electric fence feeder wires, spanning a dry channel between the eastern bank and an adjacent island, and shortly afterwards struck the river bed. The pilot received fatal injuries but the passenger survived the accident.

The aircraft collided with trees immediately after taking off from a farm airstrip. The aircraft descended into a bush clad gully and caught fire. The pilot succeeded in vacating the cockpit but received extensive burns. He died in hospital 14 days after the accident.

The aircraft suffered an in-flight structural failure due to flutter of the tail surfaces originating at the elevator trim tab.

This report relates to the possible in-flight incapacitation of the pilot of Rotec Rally 3, microlight aircraft ZK-WAC near Warkworth on 14 April 1991. The safety issues discussed are the maintenance of a minimum fabric strength on microlight aircraft and measures for improving the monitoring of microlight pilots' fitness to fly.

During boarding in adverse weather conditions for a flight from Wellington to Tauranga, a passenger was pushed sideways by a wind gust as she approached the airstair. Attempting to regain her balance, she walked into a blade tip of the four bladed left propeller which had been feathered on shutdown and was stationary but had been partially rotated by the wind from the normal parked position. The passenger received a cut forehead which required 13 stitches. Safety recommendations were made to the Airport company and the Operator.

[Investigated on behalf of the Government of Western Samoa for the National Transportation Safety Board. Direct any inquiries for copy of the report to the Minister of Transport in Western Samoa]