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Date: | Saturday 2 December 2006 |
Time: | 10:00 N UTCD |
Type: | De Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth |
Owner/operator: | John D Copland |
Registration: | ZK-BAR |
MSN: | 1123 |
Fatalities: | Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 2 |
Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
Category: | Accident |
Location: | Mitcham Road, Ashburton, Canterbury -
New Zealand
|
Phase: | Initial climb |
Nature: | Private |
Departure airport: | Ashburton Aerodrome, Ashburton, New Zealand (NZAS) |
Destination airport: | Ashburton Aerodrome, Ashburton, New Zealand (NZAS) |
Investigating agency: | CAA NZ |
Confidence Rating: | Accident investigation report completed and information captured |
Narrative:De Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth MSN 1123 [sic]. Registered in New Zealand on 4.11.2004 as ZK-BAR to John D. Copland using the MSN of 1123. This apparently is not its true c/n but probably a corruption of DHA.445/T.123 which was applied to A17-401, which is thought to be the original identity of this aircraft when it was constructed for the Royal Australian Air Force.
Its history is a bit obscure but VH-AKF is linked to this airframe from March 1947 until a crash at Nambrok, near Sale, Victoria on 6.1.50 [pilot Geoff Tamblyn was killed]. Then from 8.10.58 VH-AHB appeared, built from many parts including VH-AKF. VH-AHB crashed at Kerang in Victoria on 10.10.64 and seems to have disappeared for forty years to pop up as ZK-BAR in 2004.
Sadly it crashed and was burnt out not long after take off from Ashburton on 2.12.2006 claiming the life of its owner and his passenger. The Tiger Moth crashed on farmland while a local flight, minutes after taking off from Ashburton airport. It is reported by witnesses to have spiralled and dived into the ground. The aircraft was destroyed by impact and the resulting fire and John Copland, its owner and his passenger Bill Datlen both died.
According to the following extracy from the CAA NZ Report (see link #4 for the full report):
"The flight originated from Ashburton Aerodrome and was intended as a brief local flight. The accident occurred approximately 10 minutes after takeoff.The aircraft was observed just prior to the accident flying in level flight over a golf course and farming area at between 500 and 800 feet AGL, when it was seen to enter a left climbing turn and then spin towards the ground.
A second aircraft was lining up for take-off from Ashburton Aerodrome, about two nautical miles away, and the pilot of that aircraft observed the Tiger Moth spin to the ground. He immediately became airborne and orbited the accident site, confirming the colour of the aircraft and that fire had engulfed the fuselage.
The accident occurred on 2 December 2006 at approximately 1000 hours NZDT, at Mitcham Road, Ashburton, at an elevation of 298 feet AMSL, Latitude: S 43° 52.28', Longitude E 171° 46.70'.
Witnesses saw the aircraft enter a spin and descend, but did not see the impact with the ground because the aircraft disappeared from view behind a house. Ground impressions of the leading edges of the main-planes (wings) indicate that the impact was in a steep nose down attitude with the starboard (right) mainplanes striking the ground first followed by the port (left) main-planes. The wreckage then rebounded backwards pivoting around the starboard main-plane tips.
The wooden propeller had remained attached to the hub but had shattered, leaving ground impact marks. The fuel tank had ruptured allowing liquid fuel and vapour to rapidly escape. The fuel ignited and produced an intense fire which quickly consumed the majority of the aircraft. The ignition source of the fuel was most likely a hot section on the engine.
The sliding fuel cock valve was in the ‘ON’ position. The engine had moved rearwards into the occupiable space of the forward (passenger’s) cockpit. The rear (pilot’s) cockpit showed some compression deformation along the longitudinal structure.
Integrity of the primary control runs was established, but the position of the throttle could not be determined due to heat damage caused by the fire".
Cancellation of regsitration ZK-BAR effective from 16-04-2009 as "Aircraft Destroyed"
Accident investigation:
|
| |
Investigating agency: | CAA NZ |
Report number: | |
Status: | Investigation completed |
Duration: | |
Download report: | Final report |
|
Sources:
1.
http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.uk/2009/05/tiger-moth-zk-bar-finally-cancelled.html 2.
http://www.tigermothclub.co.nz/photos/ragfeb06.pdf 3.
http://nzcivair.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/accident-report-released-on-zk-bar.html 4.
http://www.caa.govt.nz/Accidents_and_Incidents/Accident_Reports/ZK-BAR_Fatal.pdf 5.
https://air-britain.com/pdfs/production-lists/DH82.pdf 6.
http://www.airhistory.org.uk/dh/pAus4.html 7.
https://aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=69792 8.
https://www.austairdata.com.au/component/rsdirectory/entry/view/56690-zk-bar-1 9.
https://rnzaf.proboards.com/thread/4224/fatal-ashburton-tiger-moth-crash?page=1 (Contemporary press reports)
10. Tiger Moth ZK-BAR at Ashburton Aerodrome, Ashburton, New Zealand (NZAS) 25.7.2006:
https://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001158684.html 11.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashburton,_New_Zealand Revision history:
Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
17-Jan-2009 06:39 |
angels one five |
Added |
22-May-2009 02:28 |
XLerate |
Updated |
07-Dec-2009 11:08 |
Anon. |
Updated |
02-Jun-2012 14:36 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time, Operator, Phase, Source, Narrative] |
21-Jan-2022 21:15 |
Ron Averes |
Updated [Aircraft type, Location, Narrative] |
03-Feb-2022 19:58 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time, Operator, Location, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category] |
03-Feb-2022 20:06 |
Dr. John Smith |
Updated [Time] |