Crash of a De Havilland DH.60G Gipsy Moth near Wakarara: 1 killed
Date & Time:
Jul 21, 1935 at 0945 LT
Registration:
ZK-ABM
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Akitio - Hastings
MSN:
1127
YOM:
1930
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.
