ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 63644
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| Date: | Saturday 5 November 1994 |
| Time: | c. 07:15 LT |
| Type: |  NZAI Fletcher FU-24-950 |
| Owner/operator: | Menary Aviation Ltd |
| Registration: | ZK-EFO |
| MSN: | 218 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | near Kaikohe, Northland -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | Kaikohe Aerodrome NZKO |
| Kaikohe Aerodrome NZKO | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
The accident pilot and his loader driver arrived at Kaikohe Aerodrome on the morning of 5/11/1994 to carry out the task of applying superphospate fertilizer to a farm owned and managed by the pilot's sister and brother-in-law and located just to the east of the aerodrome. They had flown over from Kerikeri where ZK-EFO was based.
A little after 07:00 the sowing operation was commenced. After the first short sowing run over an area of level ground the aircraft was seen turning to the left to line up for the next run which was to be over an elevated area of the farm.
One witness saw the aircraft banking to the left and then the wings leveled again with what the witness described as " a wobble ". Another witness driving some two kilometres from the crash site saw the Fletcher banked over so steeply that he could see the entire underside of the plane, which he said " did not seem to be going very fast." This witness then described the aircraft as " cartwheeling " towards the ground. The witness drove on and parked his car at the roadside adjacent to smoke that he could now see rising and, making his way as quickly as he could on foot, found the burning plane.
The aircraft had crashed on a gorse-covered hillside about half a kilometre from the eastern boundary of the aerodrome and on the eastern side of Mangakahia Road. Ground evidence and airframe damage showed that the aircraft struck the ground in a forty-five degree bank to the left and at a nose-down angle of thirty degrees. This was a severe impact and was not survivable. The subsequent fire had consumed the cockpit area, the hopper, and the aft fuselage. The engine mounts had been broken but the propeller and engine remained loosely attached to the fuselage.
Owing to the degree of destruction little could be learned from the cockpit instruments and controls, but it was established that the flaps had been lowered and that the electric trim control was in the neutral position.
Engine power was confirmed by the reports of witnesses and the nature of the damage to the propeller blades.
The weather was calm and was not considered to be a factor.
The accident investigator expressed in his report his opinion that the position of the turn towards the higher ground may have deprived the pilot of a visual horizon causing him to fly too slowly and the plane to stall and spin.
Edward John Menary (22), R.I.P.
Sources:
http://www.dave.wise.btinternet.co.uk/DWFletcher.htm
TAIC Aircraft Accident Report No. 94-025
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 22-May-2009 12:58 | XLerate | Added |
| 26-May-2009 00:14 | angels one five | Updated |
| 07-Feb-2010 10:13 | TB | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Nature, Damage, Narrative] |
| 14-Dec-2010 13:55 | TB | Updated [Date, Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Location, Phase, Departure airport, Source, Damage, Narrative] |
| 19-Dec-2016 06:30 | angels one five | Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative] |
| 19-Jun-2017 05:25 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative] |
| 01-Feb-2022 02:38 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type, Location] |
| 06-Feb-2022 20:22 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type] |
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