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| Date: | Sunday 9 January 1994 |
| Time: | c. 12:00 LT |
| Type: |  Cessna R182 Skylane RG II |
| Owner/operator: | Welair |
| Registration: | ZK-EKL |
| MSN: | R182-00054 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | Substantial |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Awaroa Bay Airstrip, Abel Tasman NP -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Landing |
| Nature: | Passenger - Non-Scheduled/charter/Air Taxi |
| Departure airport: | Paraparaumu-Kapiti Coast Airport (PPQ/NZPP) |
| Awaroa Bay Airstrip, Abel Tasman NP | |
| Investigating agency: | TAIC |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On 9 January 1994, ZK-EKL, a Cessna R182, was being flown on a charter flight from Paraparaumu
Aerodrome to Awaroa private airstrip 12 NM east of Takaka.
The aircraft departed Paraparaumu with 5. POB at an AUW of 1390 kg, 16 kg under the maximum of
1406 kg permitted for take-off and landing. With the planned fuel burn off the landing weight at Awaroa was anticipated to be 1354 kg.
The 55 minute flight proceeded normally, and there were no aircraft handling or weather problems
encountered enroute to Awaroa.
Awaroa Airstrip was at an elevation of 20 feet, 535 m in over-all length, and orientated east/west. It
was level, and the surface consisted of short dry grass with a useable width of 7 m.
Landings and take-offs could be made in either direction, but the preferred direction for landing was
to the east and for take-offs to the west. This was due to the close proximity of high terrain to the east. There was an overrun area on the eastern end of the airstrip. The effect of some tall trees off the western end of the airstrip was to displace the threshold by approximately 100 m. This displacement of the threshold was not marked. The effective landing distance available to the east was some 435 m, and for a landing to the west 535 m.
To carry out Air Transport operations, the published landing distance required for the Cessna R182 to
operate into a strip such as Awaroa was 600 m at 1406 kg in still air conditions. A five knot tail wind, the maximum on the landing graph, would have increased the required distance to 720 m. For Air Transport operations a twenty knot head wind would have been required to land in the distance available to the east, and twelve knots in the distance available to the west.
Upon arrival at Awaroa the pilot overflew the airstrip and estimated the wind strength as up to 15
knots from the north. This was assessed from the wind sock positioned midway along the airstrip on its northern side.
As the pilot flew the aircraft in a left hand circuit to position himself for an approach and overshoot to the east, he experienced a marked degree of turbulence and downdraughting. He decided to continue the approach up to his nominated landing decision point and overshoot. This was in order to give himself time to more accurately evaluate the landing conditions, and to alert the pilot of an
aircraft parked on the eastern extremity of the strip to move his aircraft.
A significant degree of turbulence and sink was experienced on final approach, and at the decision
point a go-around was initiated. Further sink and marked turbulence was experienced on overshoot with the aircraft clearing the trees off the eastern end of the overrun area by an estimated 50 feet.
The pilot continued in a left hand turn and flew the aircraft to a left downwind position for another
approach and overshoot to the east.
As he approached his landing decision point he encountered severe turbulence and sink. Because of the severity of the conditions he encountered, the pilot considered he had no choice but to attempt to land, rather than overshoot and run the risk of colliding with the trees and high terrain in the overshoot path.
The aircraft touched down 207 m past the displaced threshold, 228 m from the eastern end of the
airstrip and from the parked aircraft which had blocked the overrun area.
There was insufficient runway distance remaining to stop his aircraft. To avoid a collision with the
parked aircraft the pilot steered his aircraft of the southern edge of the airstrip in an attempt to go around the parked aircraft. As a result the right main undercarriage wheel struck some rough ground and the undercarriage leg folded backwards due to the overload. The aircraft then slewed to the right and came to rest approximately 15 m from the parked aircraft.
The damage to the aircraft was confined to the right main undercarriage and supporting structure,
right main wingtip, and the right horizontal stabilizer.
Safety Recommendations:
3.1: It was recommended to the manager of Welair that he:
Negotiate, with the owner and other operators, for a second full-size windsock to be positioned at Awaroa in an appropriate location, to help pilots gauge the prevailing wind conditions more accurately (019/94), and Amend Welair's Operations Manual to include a paragraph alerting pilots to the hazards of operating into Awaroa in strong north-westerly wind conditions (020/94), and
Ensure for operations into airstrips, that a pilot's ability has been checked in each aircraft type which the company requires him or her to operate into that strip (021/94).
The manager of Welair responded:
"The windsock is not ideally situated. It often indicates more cross wind than is actually experienced at strip level. This is due to the sheltering gorse adjacent to the strip. We agree another windsock on the strip would be an improvement. However if the wind is west or north-west the direction is clearly indicted by the windsock although the magnitude is often wrong. During the check out pilots are briefed on the various conditions likely to be experienced. Not just north-westerly conditions either. We will amend the operations manual to formalize this aspect. The pilot was checked out on the Awaroa airstrip in accordance with the approved procedure laid down in the Welair Operations Manual. Although this check was carried out in a C172 he was subsequently type rated in a CR182 and completed approximately an hour of short take-offs and landings in that aircraft. He has significant experience on light twins and high performance singles such that handling the CR182 presented few problems. He demonstrated more than adequate competence during both his Awaroa and Type Rating checks. Additionally the C172 and CR182 have similar handling characteristics once the later's gear is down in the landing configuration."
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://taic.org.nz/inquiries?SkinSrc=[G]skins%2ftaicAviation%2fskin_aviation
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/5882280 (Photo)
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 31-Jan-2022 08:25 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type, Cn, ] |
| 17-Feb-2022 09:27 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, Phase, Narrative, ] |
| 24-Aug-2025 11:16 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Time, Operator, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Location, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Damage, Narrative, Category, ] |
| 24-Aug-2025 11:23 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Narrative, ] |
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