Ansett New Zealand Flight 703

Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 was an Ansett New Zealand scheduled passenger flight from Auckland to Palmerston North. On 9 June 1995, the Dash 8-100 aircraft on an instrument approach into Palmerston North Airport crashed into hilly terrain in the Tararua Range while the pilots were rectifying a landing gear issue. The aircraft was carrying 18 passengers and three crew members; the flight attendant and three passengers died as a result of the crash.

Ansett New Zealand Flight 703
The wreckage of the aircraft the day after the crash
Accident
Date9 June 1995
SummaryControlled flight into terrain
SiteTararua Ranges, New Zealand
Aircraft
Aircraft typede Havilland Canada Dash 8-100[1]
Aircraft namePalmerston North
OperatorAnsett New Zealand
RegistrationZK-NEY
Flight originAuckland Airport
DestinationPalmerston North International Airport
Occupants21
Passengers18
Crew3
Fatalities4
Injuries17
Survivors17
🌍

Aircraft and crew
ZK-NEY, the de Havilland Canada DHC-8-102 aircraft involved

The aircraft, registration ZK-NEY,[2] a Dash 8-100, was manufactured in Canada in 1986. It had accumulated 22,154 flight hours and 24,976 flight cycles.[3]

The captain was 40-year-old Garry Norman Sotheran,[4][5] who had 7,765 flight hours, including 273 on the Dash 8. The first officer was 33-year-old Barry Brown,[6] who had 6,460 flight hours, including 341 on the Dash 8.[3]

Accident

Flight 703 took off from Auckland Airport at 08:17 AM. Approaching its destination, Palmerston North Airport, the flight was cleared for a VOR instrument approach to runway 25. The approach would take the aircraft on a 14-nautical-mile DME to near Woodville where it would intercept the final approach track into runway 25 and descend at a 5% gradient over the northern Tararua Range into the airport.[3]

Once on the final approach, the captain (as pilot flying) called for the landing gear to be lowered. Thirty seconds later, the first officer noticed on the landing gear indicator that the right main landing gear was not down and locked, and the captain ordered for the alternate gear extension procedure. The first officer referred to the aircraft's quick reference handbook (QRH) for the procedure, which required the pilot to open the alternate release door, pull down on the main gear release handle, and then insert the handle into the manual hydraulic pump and operate until the main gear extended. The first officer however missed the step of pulling the release handle, to which the captain said "You‟re supposed to pull the handle...". The first officer pulled the handle and said "Yeah that's pulled here we go."[3]

The distraction of the landing gear alternate extension procedure saw the aircraft inadvertently allowed to descend too low toward the range. Less than ten seconds after the first officer pulled the manual release handle, the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) sounded. The crew was unable to react in time and four seconds later, the aircraft impacted with the terrain. The initial impact with terrain occurred at 1,272 feet (388 m) above sea level; an aircraft on profile should have been 2,650 feet (810 m) above sea level.[3]

Crash site

Flight 703 slammed onto a hilltop and broke up as it slid along the ground, killing the flight attendant instantly. Passenger Reginald John Dixon tried to free two others trapped near the wing root as the wreckage caught fire. He failed to free them and a flash fire critically burned him. He died from his injuries two weeks later. Thus, three passengers also died and many others sustained injuries.

Ansett New Zealand DHC-8 ZK-NEU, sister ship of the accident aircraft

For his bravery in a dangerous situation, Dixon was awarded the New Zealand Cross, New Zealand's highest award for civilian bravery.[7]

Investigation

Possible radar altimeter malfunction

According to the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) report, an audio alarm telling the crew to climb the aircraft should have sounded 17 seconds before impact, but the GPWS malfunctioned, for reasons that have never been determined. There was an investigation by the New Zealand Police in 2001[8] into whether or not a mobile phone call from the aircraft may have interfered with the system. The official crash report[3] does mention the following on page 69:

"The aircraft manufacturer's avionics representative advised that there was no likelihood that the operation of a computer, other electronic device or a cell phone would have affected the aircraft's flight instruments."

Later study of the wreckage of Flight 703 revealed that the antennas for the radar altimeter (which sends a signal to the GPWS indicating how far above the ground the aircraft is) had been painted and this possibly reduced the GPWS' ability to provide a timely alarm, although later comments by TAIC insisted the paint did not block or reflect signals.[9] Radar altimeter antennas are clearly embossed with the words, "do not paint", a warning that was not heeded. Bench testing of the radar altimeter proved the unit was still functioning perfectly after its recovery from the wreckage.

The captain's defence was that 4.5 seconds before impact the radar altimeter display flipped 1,000 feet in altitude as he watched.

Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 was dramatised in the 8th episode of Season 21 on the show Mayday titled "Caught in a Jam".[10]

See also

References
  • Dash 8 Down: the Inside Story of Ansett Flight 703. ISBN 1-86941-489-6. Guerin, Michael; 2001; Random House; 186pp; Paperback;
  1. Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network
  2. "Active Aircraft Register (ZK-NEY)". Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand.
  3. "Occurrence Report Details – Investigation 95-011". Transport Accident Investigation Commission. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012.
  4. "Manslaughter trial for pilot". NZ Herald. 8 September 2000. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  5. "Verdict leaves pilot speechless". NZ Herald. 1 June 2001. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  6. Horwood, Alison (29 August 2000). "Dash 8 co-pilot: 'No word on gear faults'". NZ Herald. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  7. "Recipients of the New Zealand Cross". New Zealand Defence Force. Archived from the original on 8 August 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2007.
  8. "Ansett Plane Crash Cellphone Call". TV3 News. 15 June 2001.
  9. "New Zealand officials examine delayed crash warning". Flightglobal. 20 August 1997.
  10. Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 at IMDb
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.