ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 63677
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| Date: | Thursday 11 October 1956 |
| Time: | c. 07:20 |
| Type: |  De Havilland DH-82a Tiger Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Hewett Aviation Ltd |
| Registration: | ZK-API |
| MSN: | 82372 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Location: | Waikawa Valley, Southland -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Farm airstrip, Tokanui, Scrubby Hills, Waikawa Valley |
| Farm airstrip, Tokanui, Scrubby Hills, Waikawa Valley | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
de Havilland DH82a Tiger Moth MSN 82372 (Gipsy Major #82091) Built by de Havilland at Hatfield to Contract No.778402/38. Taken on charge as N9271 at 19 MU RAF St Athan, South Glamorgan 20.10.39. To 36 MU RAF Sealand, Flintshire 10.1.40 for acking and crating for overseas shipment. Shipped to New Zealand 15.2.40 on the s.s"Somerset". Taken on charge by RNZAF as NZ868 at Unit 18, Rongotai, Wellington 15.5.40. To 1 EFTS Taieri [2.42-4.42]. To 2 EFTS Ashburton (1.43). To 3 EFTS Harewood (1943-44). To Taieri for long-term storage pending disposal.
Struck off charge when sold 25.9.47 to S.J. Lister. NZ civil registered as ZK-API 25.8.47 to S.J. Lister, Temuka. Fitted with canopy (by 1949). Re-registered 1.8.51 to Willmott's Aerial Topdressing Co Ltd, Timaru. Re-registered 10.11.53 to Hewett Aviation Ltd, Mossburn.
Crashed Waikawa Valley, Scrubby Hills, 14 miles from Tokanui, Southland 11.10.56; Pilot Harold James Campbell (aged 25) killed.[Tokanui is a community in the eastern portion of Southland District Council, located on the Southern Scenic Route about 55 km east of Invercargill and 109 km southwest of Balclutha, New Zealand]
The aircraft was engaged in an aerial topdressing operation. At the completion of the final sowing run of the sortie the Tiger Moth was seen to make a 90-degree turn and head back to the airstrip to reload.
Before reaching the strip the plane went into a steep dive and disappeared from view behind a ridge. Moments later the thud of a crash was heard. The aircraft was found completely wrecked. There was no fire. The pilot was dead.
The examination of the wreckage showed no cause for the sudden dive. The engine was developing full power at the time of impact. The Centre of Gravity would have been at the aft limit at the time.
Tests in another aircraft in the same configuration showed that the Tiger Moth would tend to go into a progressively steep dive in 8-10 seconds if the control column was released in flight.
A pathologist's report stated that there was a concentration of about 20% of carbon monoxide in a blood sample collected from the dead pilot. This level could be caused by cigarette smoking. The pilot was a moderate smoker and was believed to have smoked at least two cigarettes earlier in the morning. This concentration of carbon monoxide was not considered sufficient to cause the pilot to lose consciousness.
Sufficient ingestion of carbon monoxide from the plane's exhaust was regarded as unlikely given that he was flying in an open cockpit plane and for a relatively short space of time.
"Conclusions.
22(a) The aircraft's documentation was in order.
22(b) The pilot was in possession of a valid pilot's licence.
22(c) The C. of G. position was at the aft limit.
22(d) Structural failure did not occur in the air.
22(e) The pilot became unconscious in the air.
22(f) Carbon monoxide was present in the bloodstream.
Opinion :
23 The accident was caused by loss of control in the air as a result of sudden physical incapacity of the pilot. The cause of this incapacity may well have been aggravated by the presence of carbon monoxide in the bloodstream. The behaviour of the aircraft after loss of control was the result of the inherent dynamic instability of the DH82 in the C. of G. aft configuration. "
Registration ZK-API cancelled 5.12.56 as "destroyed". Identified as with Raymond Windred, Dungog, NSW, Australia on rebuild (5.83) (although this may in fact have been VH-AQJ). Re-registered as VH-RAW 24.9.98 to Raymond A Windred, Luskintyre. Regd 21.3.19 to Tomislav Rade Benno Filipcevic, Hamilton, NSW. Currently registered and airworthy in Australia
Note: More than one Tiger Moth has held the Australian registration VH-RAW. The "original" VH-RAW was ex-RAAF A17-8, which became VH-RAW from 4.10.1957, and VH-TSG from 31.8.1986; it crashed into the sea off Stradbroke Island, Queensland on 16.12.2013. Thus Tiger Moth N9271/NZ868/ZK-API is VH-RAW "the second"
Sources:
1. Royal Air Force Aircraft N1000-N9999 (James J. Halley, Air Britain)
2. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/nz-serials/nzdh82.htm
3. Air Accident Report No. 25/3.767.
4. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf
5. http://www.flydw.org.uk/DWZKAIQ.htm
6. http://archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewEntity.do?code=7333
7. VH-RAW "the first": https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/34445-vh-tsg-1
8. http://www.adf-serials.com.au/2a17a.htm
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokanui,_Southland
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 22-May-2009 12:58 | XLerate | Added |
| 02-Jun-2011 22:15 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Damage, Narrative] |
| 17-Apr-2013 03:03 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Narrative] |
| 24-Jan-2014 19:07 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 30-Mar-2017 19:42 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Source, Narrative] |
| 04-Nov-2021 19:13 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
| 04-Nov-2021 19:16 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 04-Nov-2021 19:17 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Narrative] |
| 29-Jan-2022 07:01 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type, Location] |
| 23-Jul-2022 03:39 | angels one five | Updated [Aircraft type, Narrative] |
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