ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 67825
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| Date: | Monday 22 December 1930 |
| Time: | 19:00 |
| Type: |  De Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Auckland Aero Club |
| Registration: | ZK-AAE |
| MSN: | 928 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Mangere Airport, Auckland -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Mangere Airport, Auckland |
| Mangere Airport, Auckland |
DH.60G [Gipsy I] to Air Survey & Transport Co Ltd with C of A 1739 issued 29.12.28. Registered G-NZED 3.29 to Air Survey & Transport Co Ltd. Presented to Auckland Aero Club, Ihumatao 1.3.29 by New Zealand Herald & Auckland Weekly News; registered to the Club 30.7.29, later based Mangere. Re-registered ZK-AAE 1.12.29.
Written off (destroyed) 22.12.30: The pilot was performing a training mission around Auckland Airport. While flying at a height of 2,500 feet, he lost control of the aircraft, which dove into the ground, and crashed in a huge explosion. The pilot Cyril Olsen was killed. This was the Auckland Aero Club's first fatal accident.
As reported in a contemporary local newspaper (Evening Post, 23 December 1930, Page 13 - see link #1)
"A FATAL CRASH
MOTH'S HEADLONG DIVE
YOUNG AUCKLANDER KILLED
FIRE FOLLOWS SMASH
(By Telegraph.) (Special to "The Evening Post."')
AUCKLAND, 22nd December.
A shocking aeroplane accident "occurred at Mangere East early tonight, when a Moth machine from the Auckland Aero Club crashed from a height of 2,500 feet and burst into flames. The pilot, Cyril Olsen, aged 23, single, who resided at Royal Oak, was killed instantly. His charred remains were recovered later from the burning wreckage. Hundreds of horror-stricken spectators witnessed the tragedy, and rushed to the field in which the aeroplane crashed, but the pilot was then dead, and the intense heat of the fire prevented those who hastened to the scene from getting within 20 feet.
Mr. Olsen, who was one of the first members of the club, was about to qualify if or his A licence, entitling him to fly independently. He ascended in the Moth at 6.30 p.m. to carry out an ordinary practice flight. He was practising steep turns for nearly half an hour, when the machine was seen to make a sudden dive. It fell diagonally for about 2000 feet, and then nosedived straight into the ground with a crash that was heard a mile away. A column of smoke and flame instantly shot into the air and in a few minutes, nothing remained of the machine but a few twisted pieces of metal.
A SUDDEN DIVE.
A girl who was playing tennis 100 yards from the place where the crash occurred said the machine came down with a peculiar screeching sound. She thought she was going to be hit, but before the aeroplane reached her it dived suddenly into the ground. Other spectators referred to "a loud whining noise" that was heard as the aeroplane came down, but this is attributed by experts to the singing of the air in the wire stays of the wings. They state that the machine was travelling at 150 miles an hour when it struck the ground. This is the Auckland Aero Club's first accident since the club started flying in February, 1929. Its machines have flown 200,000 miles in 2700, hours without a mishap. The accident has been reported to the Director of Air Services (Wing-Commander S. Grant-Dalton) who is expected to order an official inquiry into the disaster at an early date.
ENGINE NOT CUT OUT.
An eye-witness, Mr. L. W. Key, of Mangere, said he was milking cows in an adjoining field when his attention was drawn to the manoeuvres of the aeroplane above. "I heard the engine start racing, and saw the aeroplane swoop down at a terrific rate," he said. "I thought she was coining straight for me, but when she was about 200 yards off, she dived straight into a paddock, and as the nose struck the ground black smoke and flames shot into the air. I ran over to see what I could do, but the heat was too intense. Other people came up with buckets of water and spades, and we tried our best to smother the fire by throwing earth over the wreckage."
The opinion was expressed by several experienced pilots who saw the aeroplane fall, that the pilot fainted in midair. This view is borne out by the fact that the engine was running full-out when the machine touched the ground, and could at any time have been throttled down or switched off had the pilot been in control. An examination of the wreckage showed, moreover, that all the control wires were intact. Before the fatal flight the machine was tested by Flying-Officer D. M. Allen and was found to be in excellent order."
Sources:
1. Evening Post, 23 December 1930, Page 13: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19301223.2.104
2. Hokitika Guardian, 23 December 1930, Page 5: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/HOG19301223.2.44
3. AHSNZ, 1987, Journal, Vol 30 No 3
4. https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh60g-gipsy-moth-mangere-1-killed
5. http://www.ab-ix.co.uk/dh60.pdf
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_ZK-.html
7. http://www.ohinemuri.org.nz/journals/63-journal-35-september-1991/1286-65-years-technological-progress
8. http://hb.knowledgebank.org.nz/878/1601/38934
9. http://rnzaf.proboards.com/post/79325
10. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-new-zealand-register/gn-z-zk?highlight=WyJ6ay1hYWUiXQ==
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland_Airport#History
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 09-Aug-2009 00:21 | angels one five | Added |
| 01-Jan-2011 02:29 | angels one five | Updated [Source] |
| 27-Dec-2011 02:05 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-May-2013 08:01 | angels one five | Updated [Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Narrative] |
| 29-Aug-2017 14:10 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 29-Aug-2017 14:11 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 29-Sep-2019 16:57 | Sergey L. | Updated [Source] |
| 23-Jan-2022 03:55 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 14-Nov-2023 19:55 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type, Source] |
| 26-Nov-2023 17:38 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Category] |
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