ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 88019
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| Date: | Wednesday 21 March 1984 |
| Time: | c. 07:05 |
| Type: |  NZAI Fletcher FU-24A-954 |
| Owner/operator: | Central Aviation Ltd |
| Registration: | ZK-EMI |
| MSN: | 260 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 2 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Near Waimate Aerodrome, Canterbury -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Waimate NZWM |
| Farm airstrip | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
Accident/incident investigated by TAIC NZ. Pilot: Keith William King.
The aircraft took off from Waimate Aerodrome to carry out an aerial topdressing operation on a farm in the district. There was a layer of stratus cloud over the aerodrome and its immediate surroundings with the cloud base estimated to be at 300 to 400 feet AGL. The wind was calm.
Several persons witnessed the departure and reported that they heard, in the moments after the take off, the plane's engine revving up and then dying away. This was repeated for a few seconds accompanied by the sound of backfiring, and then silence.
A search commenced and the aircraft was found crashed in a flat area of riverbed. The plane was wrecked, only the tail surfaces surviving intact. Fire did not break out.
The pilot was found seriously injured. His passenger, loader operator William John Thomas May was dead.
The aircraft had struck the ground at a low airspeed but in a steep nose down attitude. This was a severe impact.
The investigator concluded that the pilot had inadvertently entered the low cloud layer while trying to deal with an engine problem and had become spatially disorientated, losing control of the aircraft.
The pilot could remember nothing of the events leading up to the crash.
Sources:
1. http://archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewEntity.do?code=7333
2. Aircraft Accident Report No. 84-035.
3. AHSNZ, 1984, Journal, Vol 27 No 2.
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 11-Jan-2011 14:00 | ASN archive | |
| 01-Mar-2017 02:08 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 09-Mar-2017 03:10 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 12-Mar-2017 22:38 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 03-Oct-2021 10:43 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type, Operator, Location, Source] |
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