Millionaire pilot blamed for crash that killed him and wife

A policeman inspects wreckage from the plane flown by Russell Smith (top right) and wife Marian D'Eve.

A millionaire businessman pilot whose light plane crashed into the sea off North Canterbury last year, killing himself and his wife, blatantly disregarded safety rules, a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) investigation has found.

Russell Smith, founder of internationally recognised technology company Pulse Data, and his wife Marian D'Eve were killed when a Cessna 182 crashed off the Waipara River on August 7.

The couple had been returning to their Aylesbury home, west of Christchurch, after attending a conference in Taupo.

A CAA report released today concluded Dr Smith lost control of the aircraft, probably while disorientated, in poor weather. The aircraft was at an altitude from which he could not make a successful recovery.

Dr Smith had pushed ahead in bad weather and made poor in-flight decisions, the report said.

"This was clearly an avoidable fatal accident," CAA director John Jones said, releasing the crash report.

"Pushing on in poor weather conditions, blatant disregard of the most basic of civil aviation rules, and poor in-flight decision-making were obvious contributing factors in this aircraft crash," Mr Jones said.

While there was no chance of the pilot and passenger surviving the crash, the lack of any form of flight plan meant search and rescue efforts were very late in starting, he said.

Dr Smith and his wife were on the final leg of a trip which had taken several days, the CAA report noted.

Notified emergency services

The Cessna 182R registered ZK-FGS left Nelson bound for Dr Smith's private airstrip. On the night of the crash Dr Smith's neighbour realised that the plane had not returned as expected and notified emergency services the following morning.

About the same time as a search was being started, two bodies and fragments of aircraft wreckage were discovered on the shoreline near the Amberley Beach golf course, north of Christchurch.

Four days after the crash a portable global positioning system (GPS) satellite receiver used by Dr Smith was found on the beach.

The receiver, sent to the United States for analysis, revealed detailed information about the flight.

Investigations showed that on the morning of the flight Dr Smith sought and was provided with weather forecasts and actual weather conditions for Nelson, Woodbourne and Christchurch airports.

Forecast conditions were satisfactory for the planned flight from Wanganui through the Nelson and Woodbourne areas, but marginal for a flight through Christchurch under visual flight rules.

Dr Smith sought no further updated weather information, either while on the ground at Nelson or when airborne.

"Had he done so, it would have been clear to him that the conditions were deteriorating as he progressed toward Christchurch," the report said.

At the time of the crash there was a bank of low cloud and fog along the coastline near the Waipara River mouth and out to sea. The cloud also extended inland about 1km or 2km.

Confronted with the lowering cloud base and reducing visibility south of Motunau Island, it appeared Dr Smith elected to press on in the deteriorating weather conditions rather than turn back, the report said.

Minimum safe altitude

"In a probable attempt to fly under the cloud, he ended up flying well below the minimum safe altitude of 500ft above mean sea level prescribed by civil aviation rules," it said.

While the aircraft was fitted with instruments required for flights in "instrument meteorological conditions" Dr Smith did not hold an instrument flight rating and was not qualified to fly in such weather.

The crash investigation report concluded that Dr Smith probably suffered a type of sensory illusion known as "spatial disorientation" while making a climbing turn in poor weather with little or no external reference.

It also found that while the aircraft had a valid airworthiness certificate and had been well maintained, Dr Smith was not appropriately licensed for the flight as his medical certificate had recently expired.

Mr Jones said civil aviation rules were in place to reduce risks and ensure levels of safety.

"Taking risks by consciously flying below clearly defined minimum altitude and visibility standards and pushing on in bad weather are a lethal combination -- and in this case led to an avoidable aircraft crash and the tragic death of two people," he said.

Dr Smith was a computer millionaire who led the award-winning Christchurch-based company HumanWare, which exports Braille and speech technology, screen reading software and video-magnification solutions for the blind.

The company was estimated to have an annual turnover of more than $50 million.

Ms D'Eve was an early childhood education specialist and author of a handbook for teachers.

- NZPA