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| Date: | Thursday 25 August 1994 |
| Time: | c. 11:15 LT |
| Type: |  Boeing 737-219 Adv. |
| Owner/operator: | Air New Zealand |
| Registration: | ZK-NAS |
| MSN: | 22088/676 |
| Year of manufacture: | 1980 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 117 |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | near Mosgiel, Otago -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Approach |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Wellington International Airport (WLG/NZWN) |
| Dunedin International Airport (DUD/NZDN) | |
| Investigating agency: | TAIC |
| Confidence Rating: |  Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
On the morning of August 25 1994 ZK-NAS, operating as New Zealand 415, was on a scheduled airline flight from Wellington to Dunedin. The flight proceeded normally in clear weather and the
crew had Dunedin Airport in sight on their descent at Moeraki, some 50 NM out, where they first made
RTF contact with Dunedin Tower.
As the aircraft approached Swampy VOR the crew requested and were cleared for a visual
approach to Runway 21. The First Officer, who was the handling pilot, continued to fly the ILS approach to Runway 21 as a visual procedure. At approximately 1115 hours and shortly after passing Mosgiel NDB, the outer marker for the approach, and with the aircraft slightly above the glideslope, both the Captain and First Officer saw the Cessna, ZK-EOJ, ahead in the bottom left of their windscreen. Engine power was increased and the Boeing was leveled off to pass over the Cessna. Their altitude was reported as 1700 feet, and they estimated that they passed about 150 feet above ZK-EOJ which was flying across their path from left to right in a gentle right turn.
After passing the Cessna the approach was resumed and a landing was made without further
event.
ZK-EOJ was on a dual training flight from Taieri Aerodrome, with an instructor and student
aboard. The student was at an early stage of ab-initio training, on his fourth lesson. Their intention was to take off from Taieri Aerodrome, then contact Dunedin Tower by RTF to request a clearance through the Dunedin CTR/D to the Brighton Training Area on the coast to the south east.
After their take-off from grass vector 23 the instructor had selected his radio to the Dunedin
Tower frequency and called Dunedin Tower while the aircraft was climbing out straight ahead to the
south-west. Dunedin Tower responded but he did not receive the reply, so he checked the radio settings and his headset connections, then called again. As he again received no reply he instructed his student to turn the aircraft right to fly crosswind, then downwind back towards Taieri. The aircraft was leveled as it reached an altitude of 1400 feet.
As the Cessna turned crosswind the instructor saw the Boeing fly past above him. He reported
that the Cessna was at about 1200 feet at that time, and that they were somewhat south-west of the
Mosgiel NDB.
When the Cessna was downwind at Taieri Aerodrome the instructor succeeded in making RTF
contact with Dunedin Tower and obtained a clearance through the CTR to Brighton, where the lesson
was completed as planned. No further radio problems were encountered
The data from the Boeing Flight Data Recorder was examined to further establish the circum-
stances of the event. As the recorder was of the obsolescent scratch-foil type, with only basic flight
parameters recorded, it was not possible to define the location of the event more accurately, but the data available generally supported the crew's account and indicated that a normal stabilised ILS approach was flown, apart from the brief levelling-off to overfly the Cessna.
The vertical separation between the two aircraft was not established, but was probably some-
where between the 150 feet estimated by the Boeing crew and the 500 feet implied by the reported
altitudes of the two aircraft. They obviously passed sufficiently close to alarm the Boeing crew and
cause them to take avoiding action.
The altimeter in ZK-EOJ was checked on the day after the incident and found to indicate cor-
rectly at Taieri Aerodrome for the prevailing Dunedin QNH.
Safety Recommendations:
3.1: A Safety Recommendation was made to the Director of Civil Aviation that:
He modify the sector of Victor 9 to the south-west of Taieri Aerodrome in terms of its boundaries and altitude to improve separation between uncontrolled VFR traffic and controlled IFR traffic on approach to Dunedin Aerodrome, while facilitating safe operations within the Taieri circuit. (072/94)
3.2: The Director of Civil Aviation responded on 9 September 1994 that:
(072/94) "The implications of the modification to Victor 9 as proposed have been evaluated and it is our opinion that such action could cause problems for aircraft as they descend from 1500 ft to join the circuit at Taieri and that any benefit gained from improved separation from aircraft on IFR approaches to Dunedin, could be lost by continual infringements (even if only by small amounts), in the northern boundary of the proposed new 1000 ft sector. It would be necessary for the Civil Aviation Authority to seek comment from the industry sectors affected and evaluate the response received, before making any final decision."
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://taic.org.nz/inquiries?SkinSrc=[G]skins%2ftaicAviation%2fskin_aviation
https://www.jetphotos.com/photo/526512 (Photo)
History of this aircraft
Other occurrences involving this aircraft
| 24 August 2008 | EX-009 | Itek Air, opf Iran Aseman Airlines | 65 | 7,8 km WNW of Bishkek-Manas International Airport (FRU) |  |
w/o |
| CFIT | ||||||
Location
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 03-Nov-2016 20:02 | harro | Updated [Total fatalities, Other fatalities, Source, Damage, Narrative, ] |
| 17-Feb-2022 11:19 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location, ] |
| 24-Aug-2025 10:50 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Time, Aircraft type, Total occupants, Location, Phase, Nature, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category, ] |
| 24-Aug-2025 11:02 | Justanormalperson | Updated [Category, ] |
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