Tasman District Council

During takeoff the topdressing aircraft collided with a low hill. The pilot lost control soon after the collision. During the ensuing crash he was seriously injured and the aircraft was destroyed.

The pilot, sole on board, was completing a top dressing flight in the region of Motueka. While flying at low height, the aircraft struck with its left wing a pine, lost height and crashed on the northern face of a ridge. The pilot was killed.

While approaching the Mt Saddle at low height, the twin engine aircraft was caught by updraft and gained altitude. Shortly later, the aircraft stalled and dove into a wooded area located on the Mt Hope, in the Kahurangi National Park. Four passengers and the pilot Colin G. Lewis were rescued while two others occupants including Bert Mercer, founder of this operator, were killed. The other passenger killed was also an employee of Air Travel.

The crew departed Nelson Airport on a three-hour survey flight within New Zealand. While cruising west of Nelson at night, the crew encountered poor weather conditions. In reduced visibility, the airplane impacted the slope of a mountain located near Westhaven Inlet. The wreckage was found seven days later and all four crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O Alexander John MacFarlane, pilot,
P/O Louis George William Volzke, navigator,
Sgt Keith Robertson Jack, wireless operator and air gunner,
Sgt Phillip David Harris, wireless operator and air gunner.