ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 63263
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| Date: | Tuesday 3 October 1961 |
| Time: | c. 1810 |
| Type: |  Cessna 180 |
| Owner/operator: | Rent-a-Plane Services (NZ) Ltd |
| Registration: | ZK-BMT |
| MSN: | 30525 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Te Akau South, Waikato -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Ferry/positioning |
| Departure airport: | Wellington, NZWN |
| Whenuapai, NZWP | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
The Cessna was on a VFR flight from Wellington to Whenuapai, with a brief stop at New Plymouth.
Departure from Wellington was at 1608.
At 1635 Auckland Air Traffic Control advised the pilot, via Ohakea Control, of bad weather in the middle of the North Island and that two VFR aircraft had been forced to return to Auckland.
The pilot then cancelled the landing at New Plymouth.
At 1703 the pilot radioed that he was 12 miles northeast of the Waverley NDB at 3,000 feet, and was proceeding direct to Whenuapai.
At 1757 the pilot gave a position report saying that the aircraft was 5 miles west of Raglan at 1,500 feet and his ETA at Whenuapai was 1828.
Nothing further was heard from ZK-BMT.
At about 1810 two witnesses at Te Akau South heard an aircraft pass overhead. They were unable to see it as cloud obscured the local slopes down to about 300 feet AMSL.
The witnesses then heard a loud crash, followed by a roaring noise from an engine, and then another crash.
ZK-BMT had collided with the crest of a cloud-covered ridge at an estimated speed of 130 m.p.h. and burst into flames. The pilot was killed and the aircraft was destroyed by impact and fire.
The accident investigator's opinion was that, " The accident was caused by the pilot's imprudent decision to continue a flight ( rather than abandon it for an alternate aerodrome ) by entering weather conditions incompatible with VFR with the result the aircraft flew off course and collided with a ridge totally obscured by cloud. "
Pilot:
Vincent Roy Draffin.
R.I.P.
Sources:
http://archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewEntity.do?code=7333
Report No. 25/3/1184 issued by the Accident Investigation Branch, Air Department, Wellington.
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 18 September 1961 | ZK-BMT | Rent-a-Plane Services (NZ) Ltd | Whenuapai AFB, Auckland | |
min |
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 22-May-2009 12:58 | XLerate | Added |
| 22-May-2011 20:59 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 15-May-2013 19:21 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 01-Jul-2014 23:40 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 25-Jan-2022 03:37 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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