Kaikohe | Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives

The pilot, sole on board, was engaged in a spraying mission in Kaikohe. The first sowing operation was completed shortly after 0700LT. While flying at low height in good weather conditions, the aircraft banked left to an angle of 45° then nosed down to 30° and crashed 500 metres from the Kaikohe Aerodrome. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot was killed.

Probable cause:

The position of the turn towards the higher ground may have deprived the pilot of a visual horizon causing him to fly too slowly and the plane to stall and spin. No technical anomalies were found on the aircraft.

Final Report:

Crash of a Fletcher FU-24-950M near Kaikohe: 1 killed

Date & Time: Jul 18, 1980 at 1155 LT

Type of aircraft:

Fletcher FU-24

Operator:

Registration:

ZK-CRP

Flight Phase:

Flight

Flight Type:

Ferry

Survivors:

Site:

Plain, Valley

Schedule:

Kaitaia – Whangarei

MSN:

125

YOM:

1966

Location:

Kaikohe

Northland Regional Council

Country:

New Zealand

Region:

Oceania

Crew on board:

Crew fatalities:

Pax on board:

Pax fatalities:

Other fatalities:

Total fatalities:

Captain / Total hours on type:

16.00

Circumstances:

The single engine airplane departed Kaitaia at 1134LT being ferried to Whangarei. En route, the pilot made a low pass over his parent's house located in the Mataraua Valley then completed a 360° probably to gain height when the airplane crashed in the bush about 8 miles southwest of Kaikohe. The aircraft was destroyed and the pilot, sole on board, was killed.

Probable cause:

The probable cause of this accident was the inability of the pilot to recover from a stall incurred while manoeuvering an aircraft with unfamiliar performance characteristics at a low level in hilly terrain.