ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 347950
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| Date: | Friday 20 March 1936 |
| Time: | 10:00 LT |
| Type: |  de Havilland DH.60M Moth |
| Owner/operator: | Manawatu Aero Club |
| Registration: | ZK-ABA |
| MSN: | 1449 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Location: | Makino Road, Halcombe, near Feilding, Manawatu -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Nelson Airport, Annesbrook, New Zealand (NSN/MZNS) |
| New Plymouth Airport, New Plymouth, Taranaki, New Zealand (NPL/NZNP) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
c/no.1449 DH.60M Moth [Gipsy I #872] to Air Survey & Transport Co Ltd, New Zealand with C of A 2356 issued 30.12.29. Registered as ZK-ABA 25.3.30 to Air Survey & Transport Co Ltd. Re-registered 19.3.31 to J.H.W Lett, t/a Gisborne Aerial Transport Co, Gisborne. Re-registered 21.5.32 to Manawatu Aero Club, Palmerston North; later renamed Middle Districts Aero Club. Badly damaged when struck ground during balloon-bursting competition Palmerston North 3.12.32; repaired and returned to service.
Substantially damaged 20.3.36 near Feilding, Manawatu, New Zealand. Aircraft made a forced landing on to a scrub covered hillside. Extensive damage. Possible pilot intoxication may have been a factor.
According to a contemporary newspaper report (Manawatu Standard, 20 March 1936, Page 8 - see link #2)
"FORCED LANDING
PALMERSTON NORTH ’PLANE.
ON HALCOMBE HILLS.
Seen passing over Feilding and labouring somewhat heavily against a headwind, the Moth aeroplane ZK-ABA owned by the Manawatu Aero Club made a forced landing on a hillside at the back of the Makino Road, near Halcombe, just before 10 o'clock this morning. The machine was in charge of Pilot-Officer Firth and with him as passenger was, Mr P Castles of Palmerston North; both escaped comparatively lightly from the accident. Mr Firth received cuts about, the face and forehead and a severe shaking while Mr Castles was not injured but sustained a severe shock and collapsed shortly afterward from the effects of his experience.
Several people in Feilding noticed the slow headway the plane was making, and when it was seen to crash assistance was forthcoming from all quarters. The ’plane had come down in the hilly country in the vicinity of Mr Parsons’s property, the landing actually. taking place on a hillside. Fortunately, the machine had come down into a clump of gorse and a tree, which had substantially broken its fall and halted its speed before it hit the hillside.
The propeller was broken and the wings and undercarriage damaged, but the occupants were able to extricate themselves unawed, and when assistance arrived were brought out to the Makino Road, where they received medical attention and were removed to the Palmerston North Hospital. The ’plane was en-route from the Nelson aerodrome to New Plymouth to take part in the pageant there tomorrow".
Rebuild of ZK-ABA took almost five months, after which it was returned to service. ZK-ABA seems to have been somewhat accident-prone, as it sustained eight notifiable accidents in under six years (between 3.12.32 and 10.3.38) including three in 1934 alone (see separate entries)
Halcombe is a small settlement in the Manawatū-Whanganui region of the North Island, New Zealand. It is situated 13 km north west of Feilding and 4 km east of the Rangitikei River, between State Highway 1 and State Highway 54.
Sources:
1. AHSNZ, 1988, Journal, Vol 31 No 2.
2. Manawatu Standard, 20 March 1936, Page 8: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/MS19360320.2.72
3. https://ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/dh60.pdf
4. https://www.afleetingpeace.org/index.php/page-new-zealand-register/gn-z-zk?highlight=WyJ6ay1hYmEiXQ==
5. http://www.flydw.org.uk/DWZKAAH.htm
6. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/gy/reg_ZK-.html
7. http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/p014.html
8. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halcombe
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 3 December 1932 | ZK-ABA | Manawatu Aero Club | 0 | Milson Aerodrome, Manawatu 1 | |
sub |
| 6 April 1934 | ZK-ABA | Manawatu Aero Club | 0 | near Milson Aerodrome, Manawatu 1 | |
sub |
| 1 August 1934 | ZK-ABA | Manawatu Aero Club | 0 | Levin Airfield, Manawatu 4 | |
min |
| 10 December 1934 | ZK-ABA | Manawatu Aero Club | 0 | Milson Aerodrome, Palmerston North, Manawatu | |
sub |
| 4 July 1937 | ZK-ABA | Manawatu Aero Club | 0 | Milson Aerodrome, Manawatu 1 | |
sub |
| 8 November 1937 | ZK-ABA | Manawatu Aero Club | 0 | Milson Aerodrome, Manawatu 1 | |
sub |
| 10 March 1938 | ZK-ABA | Middle Districts Aero Club | 0 | Palmerston North Airport, Palmerston North, Manawatu | |
w/o |
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 15-Nov-2023 19:44 | Ron Averes | Added |
| 09-Dec-2023 10:47 | Dr. John Smith | Updated [Time, Total occupants, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
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