Dannevirke: Tararua crash remembered 20 years on

The Ansett Airlines Dash 8 plane which crashed on June 9, 1995, near Palmerston North. Photo / File

Tuesday marked the 20th anniversary of the Ansett DASH-8 plane crash into the hillside of the Tararua Ranges.

Four people lost their lives as a result of the accident on June 9, 1995, when flight 703 from Auckland to Palmerston North went missing on its final approach to Palmerston North Airport. The plane crashed into the Tararua Ranges, just west of Woodville above the Ballance Gorge Domain.

Former Woodville volunteer firefighter Kevin McIntyre remembers the incident well.

"It was an interesting, but difficult call-out," he said. "The weather and the terrain made it difficult to access the site and when we did get up there, it was quite eerie because the cloud was so low, the wind was whistling through and there was this great big white ghost sitting on the hill in pieces."

Mr McIntyre said the situation was unreal, especially with helicopters flying in and out of the low-lying clouds.

"Normally when we went to a call-out, we had control of the accident site but with helicopters buzzing around and police and emergency crews working, it wasn't a normal site."

The Woodville Volunteer Fire Brigade helped with triage and tried to keep people warm. "By the time we got there, everyone was basically out of the plane apart from a few. It was freezing up there and they were all huddled up."

Mr McIntyre went on to collate and write a book on the brigade - Answering the Call.