Executive summary
On Wednesday 15 December 2004 at about 1450, ZK-JES, a Cessna 172, on a flight from Kerikeri to Waitiki Airstrip, ditched in Cable Bay when the pilot could no longer continue flying visually, because of the weather conditions. One of the 2 passengers drowned, and the other passenger and the pilot were seriously injured.
The pilot was inadvertently caught in rapidly deteriorating weather conditions with low cloud, mist and poor visibility. The deterioration was brought about by a fast moving frontal system, which quickly lowered the ambient air temperature to that of the unusually high dew point temperature. The rapid deterioration removed the pilot’s options of diverting to his alternate aerodrome or returning to his departure aerodrome. Because he could not land on a nearby beach the pilot had no option but to ditch.
A safety recommendation was made to the operator about making full use of all available meteorological information.
Related Recommendations
Make full use of all available meteorological information to identify those elements, such as the spread between the ambient air and dew point temperatures, that may cause the flight conditions to become marginal or unsuitable.