Flying Officer Dean Horrocks and his Air Force crew of six plunged into the chilly sea near Kaiteriteri, north of Motueka, on a cold morning in September 1942.
Only one crewman on the Lockheed Hudson bomber survived. The rest, including Flying Officer Horrocks, perished from hypothermia.
This week, fishermen Doug Roberts and
Chris West dredged an engine of the aeroplane from the watery depths where it had lain for nearly six decades.
The pair were oystering 8km off the coast of Kaiteriteri when they dredged up the engine.
The spot is rarely fished "because everybody knows the aircraft is there and keep getting bits and pieces off it," said skipper Mr West.
"We were expecting a bumper catch because it was supposedly virgin water, but it wasn't."
As soon as they started pulling the engine out of the water, they knew what they had caught.
"The other engine was found a few years ago and is now in Woodbourne Aviation Museum, so we knew what it was."
Mr West said the engine was in surprisingly good condition, with brass fittings and stainless-steel clips still evident.
It will join its twin at the museum.
Riwaka man Fred Thomas, who was in the Air Force and trained Flying Officer Horrocks, said the Hudsons were the first big operational bombers in New Zealand.
Flying Officer Horrocks had been briefed to practise coastal flying.
"The sea was flat calm, and when that happens it is hard to see how far you are flying above the sea. Consequently, his propellers touched the water and bent.
"They were damaged but the landing was okay," said Mr Thomas.
When rescuers rowed out, only the oldest member of the crew was alive.
- NZPA
