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| Date: | Sunday 23 August 2015 |
| Time: | 17:12 |
| Type: |  Zenair CH 601 XL Zodiac |
| Owner/operator: | Private |
| Registration: | ZK-WRG |
| MSN: | 5527 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Near Matau, Taranaki -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | En route |
| Nature: | Private |
| Departure airport: | Whitianga NZWT |
| Stratford NZSD | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA NZ |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
The aircraft was returning to Stratford aerodrome, and was well south of Mokau, when it encountered a wall of cloud that prevented the flight from continuing down the coastline. The pilot decided to divert inland, and climbed up to about 6000 feet to have a look at conditions. He saw what he thought was a route under the cloud, descended, and continued the flight towards Stratford. He encountered marginal weather in the area to the west of Whangamomona. He knew from his navigation app that Stratford was only 18 NM away, and this area was he had done his flight training, so he felt comfortable enough to continue. He radioed Stratford and advised a colleague that he was 18 NM away and 'we'd be there soon'. He was flying above the hill tops, but beneath the cloud layer, so he slowed the aeroplane down to about 40 mph. Soon after, he found himself trapped by cloud below the hill tops in a narrow valley and that his way ahead was also blocked. He immediately realised that his only option was to make a 'controlled crash'. He closed the throttle, pulled the nose of the aeroplane up, and within a few seconds everything came to a stop. The aircraft had slid down a steep slope and came to a stop with the nose resting in a creek.
Sources:
https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/71377187/search-for-light-plane-missing-in-poor-weather-between-new-plymouth-coromandel
http://home.nzcity.co.nz/news/article.aspx?id=212162&cat=1033&fm=newsmain%2cnarts
Images:
Ohakea 16Mar2008
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 23-Aug-2015 22:21 | angels one five | Added |
| 23-Aug-2015 22:33 | angels one five | Updated [Narrative, ] |
| 23-Aug-2015 23:21 | angels one five | Updated [Registration, Cn, Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Narrative, ] |
| 24-Aug-2015 07:23 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type, ] |
| 24-Aug-2015 08:31 | Anon. | Updated [Damage, ] |
| 25-Aug-2015 04:13 | flyernzl | Updated [Photo, ] |
| 26-Aug-2015 06:36 | Geo | Updated [Source, Narrative, ] |
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