Case 6: Air Fiordland Ltd, January 19, 2002

Dead: five passengers and pilot

A Cessna 207 took off from Te Anau Aerodrome for Milford Sound Aerodrome, colliding with the side of a mountainous valley. The aircraft, says the TAIC report, had probably not reached a suitable altitude to safely cross over Gertrude Saddle and the pilot probably left it too late to turn back in the valley in order to gain more height.

Safety issues identified were the lack of mandatory mountain-flying training pilots must undergo and the potential safety benefits.

The report was critical of the CAA for repeatedly failing to follow recommendations to include mountain-flying training in the commercial pilot syllabus. TAIC recommended this after a crash at Franz Josef Glacier in 1993 and after a Cessna 310 accident in Queenstown in 1997.

"At the time of the accident [2002] these recommendations had not been implemented."