25 years ago - October 1988 - Phasing out the Friendship

In October 1988 plans were well advanced for the phasing out of Air New Zealand's 100 series Fokker Friendships... During the month I caught up with four of the fleet...

ZK-BXE at Timaru in October 1988

ZK-BXF at Timaru in October 1988

ZK-BXG at Timaru in October 1988

ZK-BXI at Christchurch on 23 October 1988

And finally, a 500 series, ZK-NFI at Timaru in October 1988

25 years ago - October 1988 - Fire Training

Once again we are seeing horrific bush fires in Australia... 25 years ago, in my previous existence, I worked for Timberlands and on the 8th of October 1988 we were down to Herbert Forest, south of Oamaru, for fire training with the Helicopter Line's Timaru-based Hughes 500D ZK-HPF and Helimac's locally based Hughes 300 ZK-HPH.

Auckland Seaplanes Airborne???

I have just seen Auckland Seaplanes DHC Beaver ZK-AMA airborne over the upper harbour... Is this a sign that they are about to commence operations???

PS - It sounded magnificent!

The Crash of Kaka

 

 

Thanks to Grayson Ottoway who has sent in this post recounting the crash of  Lockheed Electra AK-AGK 65 years ago today..

 

 

On the morning of 23 October 1948 two experienced pilots, Commander Max Hare and Second Officer Brian Russell, flew ZK-AGK Kaka, a Lockheed Electra of the National Airways Corporation’s fleet, from Hamilton to Palmerston North. They were due to make the return journey later that day.

At 1.16 p.m., after refuelling and taking on board 11 passengers, Kaka took off towards Whanganui. This ‘dog leg' added time and distance, but kept airliners clear of the peaks of Ruapehu, Tongariro and Ngāuruhoe at a safe cruising altitude, in an area where navigation beacons were scarce. Kaka initially appeared to be on course: it reported its presence at the Whanganui beacon at 1.38 p.m, when it was flying in heavy cloud and rain, and was later seen overhead at Ōhakune. Fears began to be held for the safety of the crew and passengers when it failed to report its position 30 minutes north of Whanganui, and did not arrive in Hamilton as expected. 

An intensive aerial search ensued. Numerous military and civil aircraft searched each day until the light failed or they were stopped by bad weather. But with hundreds of residents reporting to have heard aircraft in trouble, their efforts were dispersed across the centre of the North Island. A breakthrough finally came when three deerstalkers came out of a densely wooded area on the western side of Mt Ruapehu. They said they had heard an aircraft’s engines cut out near the mountain on the day Kaka went missing. Eventually wreckage approximately 900 m from the summit of the mountain was detected from the air. 

Search parties left for the site on the morning of 29 October. Little hope was held of finding anyone alive – weather conditions on the mountain had been poor and almost a week had passed since Kaka had disappeared. When the searchers arrived the following day, all 13 passengers and crew were found to have been killed on impact. The bodies were recovered, wrapped in blankets and parachute material, and carried down the mountain to Horopito. 

The board of inquiry into the crash concluded that the aircraft had gone off course because the pilot had made an error in his calculations, but also suggested that the lack of navigation beacons in the central North Island was a contributing factor.  

Influenced by this, the fifth major fatal accident in 11 years, late in 1948 a government commission recommended restructuring civil aviation and the need for industry regulation – including more rigorous in-flight safety procedures for commercial pilots.

 

Photo : Ed Coates Collection

 

Nelson Rescue

Warwick Young caught up with the Nelson emergency aircraft operated by Garden City Helicopters on 18 October 2013... Above air ambulance Beech C90A King Air ZK-FDN (see also http://www.helicopters.net.nz/Aircraft-Fleet/Beechcraft-King-Air-C90B-aircraft-__I.3770) and below the rescue helicopter Aerospatiale AS-350BA Squirrel ZK-HQT (see also http://www.helicopters.net.nz/Helicopter-Fleet/Nelson-Marlborough-Rescue-Helicopter-__I.4722).

 

Register of NZ Air Incidents and Accidents

Can you help???

I am researching a future post but I am wondering if there is a site (or someone might have a file) that lists NZ air incidents and accidents. I am looking in particular for the 1950s...

The incident I am looking for is of a Bristol Freighter getting bogged at Oamaru aerodrome. The book 'Safe in the Skies' talks about the Bristol Freighter service to Oamaru... It says "The service was continued until August 1954, when it was cancelled because of weight limitations at Oamaru. This followed an incident earlier in the month when a Freighter became bogged there." I have waded through the Oamaru Mail and can't find any record of this... I am wondering is the date correct???

If you can help can you flick me an email at westland831@gmail.com

Cheers, Steve

Four Air New Zealand Jets

Arriving into Auckland on Friday 18 October were Air New Zealand Boeing 777-300s ZK-OKO (above) and ZK-OKP (below)

 

My first glimpse of the new Air NZ scheme - Airbus 320 ZK-OXB on the roll at Auckland on 18 October 2013

Also on departure was Boeing 747-400 ZK-SUH at Auckland on 18 October 2013

More Link Flights for Christchurch

Air New Zealand has this week added significant capacity between Christchurch and several regional ports as earthquake rebuild efforts stimulate travel demand. Capacity between New Plymouth and Christchurch will more than double from this week, with 14 additional Bombardier Q300 services per week, increasing total capacity on this route to more than 67,000 seats annually. The airline has also increased capacity by a third between Tauranga and Christchurch, with flight frequency up from 18 to 24 direct Q300 services per week. Further seats have also been introduced between Hamilton and Christchurch with eight additional Q300 services operating weekly between the two ports, resulting in an 18 percent capacity increase. Air New Zealand Group General Manager New Zealand and Pacific Islands Cam Wallace says the introduction of new ATR-600 aircraft to the regional fleet is allowing the airline to redeploy existing capacity onto high demand routes. “A number of customers travelling from New Plymouth, Hamilton and Tauranga to Christchurch have previously had to travel via Wellington. They will now have far greater travel convenience. “We’re constantly reviewing and adapting our domestic network in order to meet regional passenger demand and we’re pleased to be facilitating the ongoing rebuild within the Canterbury region in this instance,” says Mr. Wallace. The additional weekday services between New Plymouth and Christchurch will operate in the morning catering for the early morning business traffic while services will also be added to both weekend days. Additional services from Tauranga to Christchurch will operate Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday afternoons. Between Hamilton and Christchurch the additional weekly services will operate in the afternoon on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays and a further return service will be added on Sunday mornings. These changes follow the recent announcement of new direct services from both Kapiti Coast and Perth to Christchurch which will launch on 4 November and 4 December respectively. The Night Rider service, offering $39 fares for every seat between Auckland and Christchurch on the last flight of the day, takes flight on 7 November.

Source : http://www.airnewzealand.co.nz/press-release-2013-rebuild-activity-stimulates-regional-capacity-increases-into-christchurch

A couple of Senecas at Nelson

Warwick Young caught a couple of Piper Senecas at Nelson today...

Ridge Air's Blenheim-based Piper Pa34 Seneca ZK-BJM at Nelson on 17 October 2013
For more on Ridge Air see http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.co.nz/2013/06/the-skys-limit-ridgeair.html

Golden Bay Air's Piper Pa34 Seneca ZK-ZAG at Nelson on 17 October 2013
For more on Golden Bay Air see http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/sun-is-shining-on-golden-bay-air.html
 

HLZ and AKL

The final part of the trip back to Auckland...

...at Hamilton Eagle Air's Beech 1900 ZK-EAC was getting read for departure

A new one for me was Cessna TR182 Skylane ZK-LWW at Hamilton on 10 October 2013

In full Air Chathams' colour scheme was Convair 580 ZK-CIB which was doing engine tests while...

...Air Chathams' titleless Convair 580 arrived from Woodbourne. Photo taken at Auckland on 10 October 2013

while Air Wanganui's Beech King Air ZK-MKG was off to Wanganui

TRG

Continuing back to Auckland I had an hour at Tauranga on 10 October 2013

Sunair's Piper Aztec ZK-DGS was on the taxi for circuits...

This was the first time I had seen Cessna P206 ZK-DRD in a long time... In the past it was used by Island Air (http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.co.nz/2011/10/motiti-airline-island-air-charter.html) and Sunair (http://3rdlevelnz.blogspot.co.nz/2011/07/sunairs-summer-service-to-great-barrier.html)

Departing was Cessna 172 ZK-EJY...

...while arriving home was Superair's Fletcher ZK-JAA

NZ Flight Training's Piper Pa34 Seneca ZK-ROC was off on an IFR flight to Tauranga

while Bay Flight's Cessna 152 ZK-SON was also doing local training 

No Mount Cook flights

 

 

Air New Zealand will not go ahead with flights to Aoraki/Mt Cook this summer, citing a lack of passenger interest. The carrier's subsidiary Mount Cook Airline relaunched the thrice-weekly service from December 23 last year until January 27 this year. They were the first scheduled flights to the alpine village since 2002, but a spokesperson said they would not continue this summer as "operational challenges and lack of passenger demand last season mean it was not viable". Hermitage Hotel general manager Nigel Harper was disappointed, but not surprised. "They didn't give it a proper go. Six weeks is not enough time to get an idea of how the market is going," he said. "Ideally, you would run the service from October to March. This would give it a chance to build up the momentum." The Hermitage spent more than $50,000 to get the airport back to the required accreditation, and also ran a bus service from the airport to the hotel. Mr Harper said the fact the village was also battered by the elements in January could have affected passenger numbers. The weather gauge recorded more than 930mm of rainfall in the first two weeks of this year, and wind gusts in excess of 170kmh. Mr Harper said the local providers were informed of the trial service about a year before it went ahead, but this was not enough lead time. "If it's only a trial service, this makes it difficult to build product around. The Japanese market is pretty strict in terms of advertising. You can't change the brochures only a few months before the next season." The service involved a 68-seat ATR aircraft, which flew from Christchurch to Mt Cook. The aircraft then carried on to Queenstown, with a return service departing mid-afternoon. Mr Harper said the upgrade of the airport meant it would be able to host the flights tomorrow if Air NZ revived the service. "However, we want them to work more with the providers. There didn't seem to be enough thought into this," he said.

 

Source : http://www.stuff.co.nz/timaru-herald/news/9274866/Air-NZ-cops-flak-over-ditching-alpine-link

TUO and ROT

Continuing the journey further north I called into Taupo...

Operating an Eagle Air flight was Vincent Aviation's BAe Jetstream 32 ZK-VAI. Photos taken at Taupo on 9 October 2013.

Also at Taupo on 9 October 2013 was Falcon 2000EX VH-KRW

Rotorua airport would have to be about the worst airport for plane spotting in the country and there was nothing there, however I did catch a couple of helicopters the month before...

Volcanic Air Safaris' Robinson R44 Raven ZK-HTY was waiting for customers on Lake Rotorua on 18 September 2013

...while Volcanic Air Safaris' Aérospatiale AS 350 Ecureuil ZK-IAB was busy plying its trade

PMR and WAG

I was on the road this week and had a bit of time for a little plane spotting...   

I was delighted to get Beech Super King Air ZK-MYM which is operated by airthere.com on air ambulance work. Photo taken at Palmerston North on 8 October 2013

Also at Palmerston North on 8 October 2013 was Hughes 500C ZK-HOS... These were reigning gloriously on deer recovery on the Coast when I was at school though I never got to have a flight in one

The day before on 7 October 2013 the weather was better at Wanganui where I caught the Aero Club's Tomahawk ZK-FRS and Cessna TR182 Turbo Skylane ZK-MAS

Tauranga upsizes

 

 

More people will be able to fly from Tauranga to Auckland next year with the addition of a 68-seat ATR-72 aircraft to the airport’s manifest. Air New Zealand has confirmed the ATR-72 will fly the evening weekday flight between Tauranga and Auckland in place of the 50-seat Q300, from February 2014. Air New Zealand is also going to replace some 19-seat weekend flights with 50-seaters from next year. Tauranga Airport manager Ray Dumble says the announcement is good news. “The airport is continuing to grow and flights are getting fuller all the time and reaching capacity.” He says it’s something the city needs. “Obviously there is more turnover passenger wise, more flight numbers and more carpark turnover. “We are in constant dialogue with Air New Zealand. They are running a business and monitoring their flight loads and demands.” ATR’s are currently only used for flights on Friday nights.

 

Source : http://www.sunlive.co.nz/news/55240-more-airline-seats-to-auckland.html