Inquiries & Recommendations

Ngā ketuketutanga me ngā tūtohunga

After take-off the left main wheel and piston assembly detached from the aircraft. The Fletcher was flown to Hamilton aerodrome where it was landed without further damage. The lower link attachment bolt had failed due to torsional fatigue caused by the bolt binding in its surrounding bush.

After flying over the top of Mt Mantell at a height of about 5500 feet, the pilot descended close to the mountainside intending to fly alongside a rugged rock face at an elevation of approx 4000 feet. At the bottom of the descent, he raised the collective lever to level out and heard the engine rpm increase abnormally. The pilot landed without delay. The helicopter rolled onto its left side on the rough sloping terrain.

The aircraft was flying into the wind at about 250 feet above ground level and had made several turns when it was observed to bank very steeply to the left. It entered a steep spiral dive and shortly afterwards struck the ground. The instructor on board received fatal injuries on impact. A student pilot who occupied the left seat died at Christchurch Hospital later in the day from injuries sustained in the accident.

Glide approach normal until approx 150 feet on final where a higher sink rate was encountered. It became apparent that power would be required to clear the aerodrome boundary fence and the competitor was instructed by the pilot in command (acting as judge in the right hand seat) to apply power. Throttle application had no effect initially and the aircraft struck the boundary fence before the engine responded. The pilot in command took control and landing normally.

During take-off on aerotow the competitor had difficulty in holding station behind the tug so the instructor released from tow and re-circuited to land behind the towplane. After landing the towplane turned right and blocked the glider's landing roll path causing the two aircraft to collide (see also 90-081)

The pilot was making an approach for a forced landing practice when the engine failed to respond for the go around. The pilot ground looped the aircraft but was unable to prevent a collision with the fence at the far end of the paddock.

When landing at Queenstown aerodrome insufficient braking was achieved. The aircraft was steered to avoid obstructions and rolled through the aerodrome boundary fence, across a 750 mm deep ditch to come to rest 96.7 m from the runway end. One passenger subsequently reported a minor neck injury. No fault was found with the with aircraft braking system. Safety recommendations covered hazardous structures on the extended runway centreline, location of remote reading of wind conditions at either end of the runway, friction measurement of runway surfaces, and approach and landing procedures.

The aircraft was on an approach when a yaw to the right occurred which was accompanied by a loud bang. The pilot lowered the collective and made an autorotation onto uneven ground. A laboratory inspection of the tail rotor components indicated that the tail rotor teeter bolt had failed in flight. As the bolt was lost the cause of the failure was not established.

[No official abstract. The following is derived from the report.] The glider took off on tow with the airbrakes open. At 20 feet after take-off the glider pilot saw the tug aircraft signalling with its rudder and interpreted this as a signal to cast off. He did so, and turned back towards the aerodrome. The tailplane was damaged when the aircraft clipped the fence as it crossed the boundary. When the aircraft came to a halt the pilot realised the brakes were still open. A safety recommendation was made to the President of the New Zealand Gliding Association.

The burnt-out wreckage of ZK-CZQ was discovered by firefighters extinguishing a large scrub fire. The pilot and passenger had sustained fatal injuries. There were no witnesses to the accident but the available evidence suggested that, during a turn at low level in the course of an attempted precautionary landing, the left wingtip struck the ground and the aircraft cartwheeled on to its nose. No conclusive reason for a precautionary landing could be established. The possibility of an in-flight fire could not be discounted.

The aircraft, number 4 in a formation "bomb burst" manoeuvre, collided with number 3 aircraft in the formation. After the collision the number 4 aircraft dived straight into the ground while the pilot of number 3 was able to make an emergency landing. The pilot of number 4 aircraft was killed in the accident.

The aircraft departed from New Plymouth to Hamilton at 1752 hours. Nothing was heard from the aircraft after the pilot acknowledged his take-off clearance. A search aircraft located the pilot's body off the coast of Urenui next day. The aircraft was not found.