The crash occurred on this day in 1995.
Today marks 27 years since the only fatal accident involving former domestic carrier Ansett New Zealand. The disaster involved a Palmerston North-bound flight operated by a De Havilland Dash 8 turboprop, which crashed in mountainous terrain due to a distraction in the cockpit. Let's take a closer look at how it unfolded.
Ansett New Zealand flight 703 was a scheduled domestic flight that originated at Auckland Airport (AKL), the largest and busiest hub in the country. As a city, Auckland was also the home of the airline's HQ. Ansett New Zealand was a domestic specialist, and was operational under this name from 1987 to 2000.
As such, the destination of the flight in question was also located in New Zealand. Specifically, the service was bound for Palmerston North International Airport (PMR). Like Auckland Airport, this facility was also situated on New Zealand's North Island, albeit approximately 500 km to the south. Today, flag carrier Air New Zealand operates the sole route connecting this airport with Auckland.
Data from Planespotters.net shows that Palmerston North was also the aircraft's name at the time of the accident. Registered as ZK-NEY, this 1986-built De Havilland Dash 8-100 had previously been named Queenstown (1986-1987) and City of Palmerston North (1987-1994). The Aviation Safety Network notes that the 40-seater was around half full, with 18 passengers and three crew onboard.
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As is often the case with cavitation accidents, most of the flight passed uneventfully. It departed Auckland at 08:17, and continued southwards towards its destination. It was only on approach to Palmerston North that things went awry. The plan for the flight was for it to make a 5% descent over the Tararua mountain range into Palmerston North, having intercepted the approach path near Woodville.
While this was initiated as planned, a cockpit distraction caused the pilots to lose focus on maintaining the angle of descent. Specifically, they faced issues with deploying the aircraft's right main landing gear. With the help of the quick reference handbook (QRH), the faulty gear eventually deployed. However, by this time, the Dash 8 had descended below the planned approach path.
While the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) did issue an audible alert, this took place with just four seconds to spare. This left insufficient time to recover the situation, and the aircraft impacted the mountainside at 1,272 feet. This was less than half of the 2,650 feet it should have been flying at at that point in time.
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The force of the impact resulted in the death of the flight's sole cabin crew member, with the aircraft breaking up on the hilltop. Three more passengers perished when a fire consumed the wreckage, with one of these being commended for his heroism in trying to free the other pair, who were trapped. Reginald John Dixon was awarded the New Zealand Cross, with his citation reading:
"The situation in which Mr Dixon found himself was extremely dangerous, and he displayed great bravery in returning to the aircraft, although injured, to help other passengers which subsequently resulted in the loss of his own life. His bravery undoubtedly ensured that the loss of life was not greater."
What do you make of this accident? Do you remember it occurring at the time? Let us know your thoughts and recollections in the comments.
Sources: Aviation Safety Network, New Zealand Defence Force
Journalist – A graduate in German, Jake has a passion for aviation history, and enjoys sampling new carriers and aircraft even if doing so demands an unorthodox itinerary. A keen amateur photographer, he also recently reached the milestone of flying his 100th sector as a passenger. Based in Norwich, UK.