Two men killed when their plane crashed into a paddock north of Auckland yesterday were retirees who had only recently bought their plane. The two-seater microlight that the men co-owned crashed into a paddock at South Head on Kaipara Harbour about 1pm yesterday, killing them both.
Farmers in the area heard the plane flying overhead but when the sky fell silent nobody realised the plane had crashed. Murray Foster, a flight instructor and friend of the men who were aged in their 70s, said they were returning from a visit to the Ohakea Air Show in Manawatu and were attempting to land when they crashed. Foster said the long-time friends, one a qualified pilot and the other a trainee, had flown their plane to Paraparaumu on Friday and caught a ride with friends to Ohakea.
He received a text from the trainee at 8.50am on Sunday that said the pair were beginning their return. Foster, who the men were staying with, said he received three more texts - one near Kawhia and the other near Raglan. The third, which said they would be in Dargaville by midday, was received while Foster was on his way to pick up the men up from the Dargaville Aero Club where they kept their plane. Upon arrival at the club he heard a faint mayday call had been sent, though it did not reveal much. "When you leave a mayday call you give where you are, your position and where abouts you're going to land. You don't have time to say exactly what's happening."
Foster said he then spoke with search and rescue representatives and between them they mapped the approximate area where the men could be. It appeared they were trying to land when they crashed, he said. At the scene yesterday, a visibly shaken woman said she did not hear the crash but came across the wreckage. The main part of the plane lay just a few hundred metres from Fuller Rd. Pieces of the plane appeared to have broken apart upon impact and were scattered across the paddock.
Resident Paul Protheroe said the community was shocked. "It was overcast with a stiff easterly wind. I thought a neighbour who owns a light aircraft was buzzing about in the air. When I heard about the crash I was worried it was him." No-one heard the plane go down. It was only when a neighbour spotted the wreckage they realised there had been a crash. "It's just shocking for the families involved and shows how fragile life is," Protheroe said. Foster said the men, who were from Waiuku and Auckland's North Shore and whose names were expected to be released today, were coming to stay with him last night. "They come up here regularly to fly and they always come and stay with me. [The trainee] has been staying with me since Tuesday and the other guy came on Thursday and he stayed for the night...
On Friday morning they left to go to Paraparaumu." While the trainee had been studying for his licence part time for two years, his friend had flown for several years, including overseas. Ad Feedback He once had his private pilot's licence but had lost that based on a medical but still held his recreational pilot's licence. The pilot was an experienced mariner and former captain of cargo ships and had also captained the Spirit of Adventure for several years, he said.
"They were really good guys. They were very professional blokes, both of them were." Foster said it was not uncommon for people to learn to fly at that age. Some of his students were in their 80s, he said. Both were cautious men who were thorough with their planning. Foster said he had checked their flight plan himself. "The planning was good." Meanwhile, police worked to remove the bodies last night before bad weather rolled in.
A Civil Aviation spokeswoman said the wreckage would remain in place until their investigators had carried out their scene examination. They were not expected on scene until mid-morning. Police Inspector Gary Davey said there was no early indication of what caused the crash. "We are appealing to any witnesses who saw or heard anything in South Head to contact local police."
Frantic mayday calls as pilot tried to make an emergency landing
The mayday - which said their engine had failed and they were making an emergency landing - followed a series of text messages to another friend with updates on their progress and hopes to be home by midday.
The Aucklanders were flying back from a weekend away at the Ohakea Air Show in Manawatu when their Zenair Zodiac crashed into a paddock at South Head, north of Helensville.
They had taken off from Paraparaumu at 9am. When they had not arrived at Dargaville - where they kept their plane - by midday as expected, they were reported missing.
Before the plane went down at a Fuller Rd farm, the pilot made a mayday call. Other flyers reported it to the Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Wellington.
Pilot Richard Jowsey said the call was heard at the Parakai Airfield.
"The guys received the call. They were totally shocked and very concerned.
He [the pilot] said, 'Mayday, mayday, mayday.' He said his engine had failed and they were going to put down using the emergency landing procedure," Mr Jowsey said.
"That mayday call shook them up to hell at the airfield. It was pretty broken up and scratchy."
The mayday call was also heard by an instructor at the Dargaville Aero Club, where the plane was due to land.
Murray Foster, a friend of the men and their flight instructor, said a colleague also heard the call.
"They said it sounded like the guys, but it was very weak. I called them back on the radio to see if I could contact them ... I couldn't."
Mr Foster said the men had been very excited about their trip away.
They landed in Paraparaumu and stayed with friends for a night, before driving to the Ohakea air force base, near Bulls, for the annual air show.
"It was their own plane. They only just bought it - they'd had it about a month or six weeks. [The pilot] had owned several planes before and he was experienced," he said.
"They did a lot of flight planning; their planning was really good. I helped them with it and they were very particular about their planning.
"They were really good guys ... It's very, very sad."
One pilot was experienced, the other man was still in training.
The pair stayed with Mr Foster for several days before they set off on Friday.
Yesterday, while the qualified pilot flew the plane, the trainee sent Mr Foster updates by text about their trip.
"The first text said they were going okay. The next one, from Raglan, said they were worried about the weather in Dargaville. I gave them the okay and said the conditions were fine.
"They said they'd be here at lunchtime.
"I got another text saying there was too much noise and they couldn't ring me from the plane. And then they didn't arrive."
The Rescue Co-ordination Centre responded to the mayday calls by dispatching the Northland Emergency Services Trust helicopter to the last known location of the Zenair Zodiac.
As its crew searched the area, a farmer found the wreckage in a paddock near his house.
Chief pilot Pete Turnbull said the plane was badly damaged.
"There was still a small fire burning ... There were no signs of life."
The farmer and his wife were upset by the tragic find.
Emergency services converged on their property and moved quickly to cover the wreckage, with the bodies still inside, with tarpaulins.
The wife said it was a terrible situation, but out of respect for the victims' families she did not want to speak about the accident.
Mr Jowsey, an experienced pilot who knows the area well and has flown over it many times, suspected that as the plane glided in for the emergency landing, it was struck by a "king wave" of wind.
The area is known for its gusty conditions, he said, and while the pilot appeared to pick the "perfect spot" to land, the wind might have been the fatal factor.
"It was probably a combination of bad weather and bad luck. It's horrible. It would have been a hell of a slam ... It would have been quick."
From what he heard on the mayday call, Mr Jowsey did not believe the crash was the result of pilot error.
"He did all the right things, I think. He's died bravely trying to save his plane and passenger.
"Were it not for the easterly gusty conditions, he would have probably walked away from that."
Crash countdown
9am yesterday
The Zenair Zodiac takes off from Paraparaumu.
9am-noon
The men text a flight instructor, giving updates on their progress.
Noon
They are reported missing after failing to arrive in Dargaville on time and after mayday calls are made from the plane.
1pm
The Northland Emergency Services Trust helicopter is dispatched to search for the Aucklanders.
2pm
The men are found dead in the wreckage in a farm paddock at South Head.
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