Date:	Thursday 29 March 1951
Time:	15:30
Type:	Miles M.65 Gemini 1A
Owner/operator:	Ministry of Works
Registration:	ZK-ANU
MSN:	6471
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 4
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Bankside, Rakaia, Canterbury -   New Zealand
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Private
Departure airport:	WLG / NZWN via Wigram
Destination airport:	WLG / NZWN
Confidence Rating:	Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities

Narrative:
MSN 6471: Miles M.65 Gemini 1A. First Registered as ZK-ANU to John Gamble Ltd, Wellington 15.4.47. UK C of A issued 26.8.47. NZ C of A issued 23.2.48. Operated by the Ministry of Works, Wellington. Crashed near Bankside, Rakaia, Canterbury 29.3.51. Registration ZK-ANU cancelled 6.9.51.

Pilot Howard Craig Edwards and three technicians were checking radio navigation beacons at Woodbourne and Ashburton. Flying back to Rongotai from Ashburton, the aircraft was seen to dive under full control from about 150 feet into a descending steep turn. It straightened out of the turn but continued to dive and hit the ground, disintegrating the aircraft and killing all four aboard.

The pilot had prior complaints about low flying; the accident report said, "It is not inconceivable that he regarded this flight as a last opportunity on which to engage in the type of flying from which he obviously derived pleasure." The board of inquiry said "It is very much regretted that those Departmental officers who had knowledge of flying incidents involving Regulation violation by this pilot neglected to immediately report the circumstances to the Director of Civil Aviation or the Flying Safety Organisation though the Incident Report system", "Had they done so the result might well have been that instead of this pilot being only warned again that his license would have been suspended in time to have prevented this accident."

1. Civil Air Accident File 27/33/216, Archives New Zealand
2. King, John (1995). Aviation Accidents and Disasters. New Zealand Tragedies. Wellington: Grantham House. pp. 165-166. ISBN 1 86934 042 6.
3. http://web.archive.org/web/20070211064558/http://www.edcoatescollection.com:80/ac2/NZNZ/ZK-ANU.html
4. http://www.kiwiaircraftimages.com/gemini.html
5. https://air-britain.com/pdfs/archive/Archive_1993.pdf
6. https://natlib.govt.nz/records/22865620?search%5Bpath%5D=photos&search%5Btext%5D=19539
7. https://collection.motat.nz/objects/108485/zk-anu-miles-m-65-gemini-1a
8. http://www.flydw.org.uk/DWZKAIQ.htm
9. https://rnzaf.proboards.com/post/127074
10. https://mapcarta.com/16732838

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
22-May-2009 12:58	XLerate	Added
30-May-2009 18:46	XLerate	Updated
29-Nov-2012 15:23	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Cn, Nature, Source, Narrative]
22-Jan-2022 03:10	Ron Averes	Updated [Aircraft type]
23-Sep-2022 00:49	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Location, Source, Narrative, Category]
23-Sep-2022 00:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]
23-Sep-2022 00:50	Dr. John Smith	Updated [Narrative]