Skydive Taupo aircraft engine malfunction a first

The New Zealand-built aircraft model involved in yesterday's skydiving crash has never been involved in a crash due to a mechanical error before, its manufacturer says.

The custom-made PAC 750XL - manufactured by Hamilton-based Pacific Aerospace, and operated by Skydive Taupo - crashed in to Lake Taupo after a suspected engine problem.

Skydive Taupo's aircraft was first registered in 2005, according to the Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) register.

Pacific Aerospace advertises the aircraft model as being globally recognised as "the ultimate skydiving platform providing unmatched safety, productivity and profitability for its operators".

The model has been involved in a number of other incidents, including an ocean ditching near San Francisco, a mid-air collision in Britain, a runway crash in Papua and a hijack-suicide in Portugal.

Pacific Aerospace chief executive Damian Camp said the company had built 93 of the aircraft to date, but none had crashed due to mechanical faults.

"The only incidents we've ever had with crashes have all been due to pilot error. Early indications, and we're still waiting for details, are that there was an engine issue on this aircraft, XL-122.

"Any other incidents [where] we've had losses of aircraft have all been to do with pilot error."

He said yesterday's crash was "one of those things - it does happen from time to time.

"The witness indications would suggest there's an engine problem - we don't manufacture the engine."

The engine was a Canadian-built Pratt and Whitney TP6, used in dozens of different aircraft, Mr Camp said.

Pacific Aerospace had never suffered any previous issues with the engine model, he said.

"It's a very well-regarded engine, very reliable, so it'll be interesting to see what the actual issues were with this one in particular."

Mr Camp said he had been in contact with the CAA and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission following the crash.

On its website, Pacific Aerospace said the model's features included the ability to climb rapidly to jump height and return to the airstrip before the parachutists had landed, enabling it to average four skydiving trips per hour.

Its wide centre of gravity range also made it a stable jump platform, the company said.

Crashes involving other PAC 750XL:
-In December 2003, a pilot ferrying a PAC 750XL from Hamilton to California, via American Samoa, Kiribati and Hawaii reported a problem with his fuel system on the final leg and ditched the aircraft in the ocean near San Francisco. He did not emerge from the aircraft and was later found by rescue swimmers, dead in the cockpit.
-In December 2007, two people were killed when a PAC 750XL collided with another light plane in Britain. The PAC 750XL with three people on-board managed to land safely. However, the other plane, a Luscombe Silvaire, plunged to the ground from 1800 feet, killing both occupants.
-In September 2008, a PAC 750XL was involved in a fatal crash in Switzerland after dropping off 17 paratroopers. The plane crashed into a forest and the pilot and his passenger died.
-In February 2010 in Portugal, an ex-military officer hijacked a PAC 750XL at gunpoint after pretending to be a photographer. A skydiving instructor and his client were forced out of the aircraft mid-air and the pilot managed to escape after performing a crash landing. The hijacker then killed himself.
-In December 2011, a pilot and passenger were killed when their PAC 750XL skidded off a wet runway and burst into flames at Abmisibil Airport in Papua. Thee people survived the crash.