Country
code
Hawke's Bay Regional Council

Crash of a PAC Cresco 08-600 in Otane

Date & Time: Feb 4, 2014 at 0600 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ZK-LTE
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Otane - Otane
MSN:
029
YOM:
2001
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The pilot and the passenger were completing a top dressing mission in the region of Otane, south of Hastings, New Zealand. On final approach, the single engine aircraft seemed to be too low and hit tree tops before crashing nose down in a prairie. Both occupants were seriously injured and the aircraft was destroyed. It was dark at the time of the accident as the sunrise was computed at 0639LT.

Crash of a Fletcher FU24-950 Fletcher in Waipukurau

Date & Time: Apr 20, 2010 at 1420 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ZK-EGT
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Waipukurau - Waipukurau
MSN:
242
YOM:
1977
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The pilot was engaged in a crop spraying mission on a plantation close to a farm located in Waipukurau. The accident occurred on takeoff in unknown circumstances. While the pilot was seriously injured, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Fletcher FU-24-950 in Waipukurau

Date & Time: Feb 8, 1980
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ZK-EMF
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
257
YOM:
1978
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Crashed in unknown circumstances while engaged in a local spraying mission. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was injured.

Crash of a De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver in Tikokino

Date & Time: May 16, 1978
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ZK-CFU
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
1530
YOM:
1963
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
While completing a crop spraying flight, the pilot was forced to attempt an emergency landing for unknown reasons. The single engine airplane landed hard, went out of control and came to rest. The pilot, sole on board, escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Lockheed 18-56 LodeStar off Napier

Date & Time: Apr 24, 1971
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ZK-CGV
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
2051
YOM:
1940
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
While on approach to Napier-Hawke’s Bay Airport, the airplane went out of control and crashed into the Napier harbor. The pilot was rescued by fishermen while the airplane sank and was lost.
Probable cause:
Loss of control on approach after a flap control cable broke on the right wing, causing a flap to extend unexpectedly.

Crash of a De Havilland DHC-2 Beaver in Wanstead

Date & Time: Jan 4, 1969
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ZK-CLP
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
493
YOM:
1953
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Crashed in unknown circumstances while completing a local top dressing mission. The pilot was injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

Crash of a Fletcher FU-24 in Otamauri: 1 killed

Date & Time: Jul 15, 1960 at 1530 LT
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
ZK-BHI
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Otamauri - Otamauri
MSN:
11
YOM:
1954
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The aircraft was on the take off run when two cattle beasts suddenly appeared from sloping ground on the left of the strip and ran across. The pilot attempted to lift off to avoid a collision and the plane adopted a steep nose-high attitude, with the tail cone hitting the ground, before striking the animals. The impact caused the aircraft's elevators to separate from the airframe. The calculated ground speed at this stage was 71 mph and the aircraft overran the sloping end of the airstrip. It was thought that the pilot, unaware of the loss of the elevators, attempted to continue the take off in order to retrieve the situation, rather than trying to stop in the limited distance available on the sloping runway. The plane appears to have lofted, out of control, for a distance of 264 feet (80 meters) before striking the ground at angle of 70 degrees, and sliding another 66 feet (20 meters). The aircraft was wrecked and a fire broke out in the engine bay and was fed by the gradual discharge of fuel from the fractured outlets of the wing tanks. The loader driver and two others were quickly at the scene and the only fire extinguisher available, a 20-pound (9 kg) foam-type was used in an effort to blanket the pilot, whose leg was trapped, from the flames. Three other persons who had been working nearby arrived and assisted by bringing water from a pond close by. These commendable efforts were insufficient to quell the blaze and the pilot had suffered severe burns before he was finally removed from the wreckage. The pilot William George Jackson Deller died as the result of his injuries.
Source: https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=63366
Probable cause:
Ground collision with cattle during takeoff.

Crash of an Airspeed AS.10 Oxford I in Mt Ruahine: 3 killed

Date & Time: Nov 30, 1948
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NZ1227
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Napier - Ohakea
MSN:
2609
YOM:
1940
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
3
Circumstances:
While cruising in the region of Hawletts Hut, the twin engine aircraft went out of control and crashed in a dense wooded area located in the Ruahine Mountain Range. All three crew members were killed. It is believed that the aircraft suffered a structural failure in flight.

Crash of a De Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth near Wakarara: 1 killed

Date & Time: Jul 21, 1935 at 0945 LT
Type of aircraft:
Registration:
ZK-ABM
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Site:
Schedule:
Akitio - Hastings
MSN:
1127
YOM:
1930
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The pilot and owner Hamish F. Armstrong was performing a flight from his farm in Akitio to Hastings. En route, he encountered poor weather conditions and low visibility, and the aircraft diverted from the prescribed flight path to the northwest. While cruising, the single engine aircraft impacted a hillside in the forest of Ruahine, near Wakarara. The wreckage was found two weeks later at an altitude of 1,200 metres, some 30 metres below the summit. No trace of the pilot was ever found. Injured, he probably walked away to find help but he did not have the appropriate clothes against the low temperature and did not have any food as well.
Probable cause:
Controlled flight into terrain following a navigation error in poor weather conditions.

Crash of a De Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth in Napier: 1 killed

Date & Time: Dec 24, 1933
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
ZK-ACY
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Napier - Napier
MSN:
1234
YOM:
1930
Country:
Region:
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
Shortly after takeoff from Napier, while climbing, the single engine airplane entered a dive and crashed. The pilot H. C. Curlett, sole on board, was killed.