1963 DC-3 crashes in Kaimai Range

All 23 passengers and crew were killed in what is still New Zealand’s worst internal civil aviation accident. For the first time in this country, helicopters were used in the search and rescue operation that followed.

The National Airways Corporation Dakota DC-3 took off from Whenuapai Airport, Auckland, at 8.21 a.m., bound for Wellington via Tauranga, Gisborne and Napier. Shortly after 9 a.m. the pilot made contact with the Tauranga aircraft control tower requesting permission to descend. His estimated time of arrival was 9.08. When two calls to the aircraft minutes later drew no response, fears for its safety were raised.

The weather was stormy. A Court of Enquiry into the crash later concluded that at the time of the accident the winds were much stronger than had been forecast. The plane would have been drifting west of the planned route without the crew being aware of this. The pilot probably thought he was on the eastern (Tauranga) side of the Kaimai Range and began his descent to Tauranga Airport from the wrong position. The aircraft was then caught in a downdraught that was too turbulent for the pilot to climb out of. The DC-3 slammed into a ridge on Mount Ngatamahinerua in the Kaimai Range.

Poor weather and limited visibility hampered the search and rescue operation. Aircraft sent to search the area had to be recalled, and ground parties were forced to turn back. Shortly after 11 a.m. on the 4th a searcher identified a possible crash site. At 11.58 a.m. an RNZAF Bristol Freighter verified the sighting, and at 12.09 p.m. a helicopter was able to hover about 20 feet (6 m) above the wreckage. There was no sign of survivors. A ground party was finally able to reach the site the next day. It confirmed that all 23 passengers and crew had perished in the crash.

Further information

Richard Waugh, Kaimai crash: New Zealand's worst internal air disaster, The Kynaston Charitable Trust and Craig Printing Limited, Invercargill, 2003

Image: wreckage from the crash  (Te Ara )