Plan to mark Kaimai crash site

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

Memories of New Zealand's worst internal aviation disaster are being revived as a small, dedicated group push to have the tragedy officially commemorated.

Nearly four decades after the National Airways Corporation Skyliner crashed in the rugged Kaimai Ranges west of Tauranga, killing 23 passengers and crew, the site has still not been marked.

But a four-member committee led by an Auckland aviation historian, the Rev Richard Waugh, who is chaplain to the Air Pilots' Guild, want to change that in time for the 40th anniversary a year from today.

Mr Waugh said it was surprising something significant had not been done after the accident, "but maybe it was a bit raw then".

He and his colleagues are planning a "long-overdue" service to unveil a large plaque at an accessible Kaimai spot, listing all the names of those who died.

A smaller memorial will be erected at the actual accident scene in rough hill country.

The Kaimai Crash Project committee has the backing of the Matamata-Piako District Council but still needs to raise several thousand dollars. Members are also appealing for information from relatives and those involved in the search so they can produce a booklet on the event.

All 20 passengers and three crew were believed to have died instantly when the DC3, ZK-AYZ, came to grief in bad weather near Matamata on a scheduled flight from Auckland on July 3, 1963.

The last message from the pilot at 9.06am was that he expected to land at Tauranga airport in two minutes.

A reconstruction of the final moments showed the plane, named "Hastings", rammed into a 760m peak at its normal cruising speed of at least 150 knots. It exploded in flames, destroying all but the tail section and the tip of one wing.

Atrocious weather meant it was more than 24 hours before the charred skeleton of the aircraft was found, wedged in an almost perpendicular ravine.

A public inquiry determined that a strong downward current in the lee of the Kaimai Range, close to Gordon's Quarry, was the main cause of the crash.

Searchers battled through gales, torrential rain, bitter cold, dense bush, steep, slippery banks, and poor visibility.

Initially, conditions were too dangerous for an aerial search but two helicopters which were brought in the next day were credited with playing a vital role in discovering the wreckage and helping to ferry men and equipment to the crash site.

* The country's worst aviation disaster occurred in late 1979 when 257 people on board Air New Zealand Flight 901 perished when the DC-10 smashed into the slopes of Mt Erebus in Antarctica.