Crash of a Lockheed PV-1 Ventura in the Tararua Mountain Range: 4 killed
Date & Time:
Feb 28, 1946 at 0710 LT
Operator:
Registration:
NZ4573
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Ohakea - Ohakea
MSN:
6203
YOM:
1944
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The crew was engaged in a meteorological survey mission and left Ohakea AFB at 0700LT. Ten minutes later, while cruising in the Waitohu Valley in poor weather conditions, the aircraft hit the slope of a mountain located in the Tararua Mountain Range. SAR operations were conducted but eventually suspended few days later as no trace of the aircraft nor the 4 crew members was found. On March 19, 1949, walkers found the wreckage of the aircraft in a wooded area located near Otaki.
Crew:
F/Lt Walter Jacobs,
F/Lt Sydney Langton,
W/O Hedley Newell,
AC1 Anthony Hayhurst.
Crew:
F/Lt Walter Jacobs,
F/Lt Sydney Langton,
W/O Hedley Newell,
AC1 Anthony Hayhurst.
