New Zealand Disasters: Kaimai Aircraft Crash (3 July 1963)

At 9:09am on 3 July 1963, 23 people died in what remains New Zealand's worst internal aviation disaster. As a National Airways Corporation DC-3 plane began its descent towards Tauranga in poor weather it was suddenly caught in severe turbulence and slammed into a ridge on the Kaimai Range, killing all on board. Story and profiles researched and written by Debbie McCauley (3 July 2013, http://tauranga.kete.net.nz/tauranga_local_history/topics/show/1405).'''

The recently refurbished DC-3 Skyliner departed from Auckland on 3 July 1963, bound for Wellington via Tauranga, Gisborne and Napier. The weather was stormy and forecasts underestimated the force of the wind.

At approximately 9:09am when just two minutes from Tauranga, the plane began its descent. It was caught in a sudden downdraught and slammed into a ridge 100ft from the top of Mount Ngatamahinerua, the highest ridge in the Kaimai Ranges. Insufficient altitude and problems as a result of inferior navigational equipment contributed to the crash, but inadequate forecasting of ferocious winds was the deciding factor.

Residents and workers from Gordon Quarry south-east of Te Aroha first raised the alarm. During heavy rain they had heard the sound of a low flying aircraft whose roaring engines were cut off abruptly. Tower staff at the Tauranga Airport were frantically trying to contact the plane when Matamata Police phoned with the worker's report.

A major search operation was launched with workers from Gordon Quarry being the first ground search party to head into the bush. Hampering them was dense mist and scrub along with terrible weather. They, along with other search parties, were forced to turn back when the late afternoon light began to fail. Aircraft had been despatched earlier in the day but called back due to danger from the severe turbulence. Gordon Quarry became search headquarters.

It took two days for rescuers to locate and reach the crash site. The wreckage was located by helicopter pilot Mike Alexander who consulted with local farmers about the general direction in which to search. His memory of finding the wreckage was that 'the horror of the crash showed itself. The aircraft had hit a rock face, slumped back into a tiny pocket below and burnt out. Really burnt out. I could not see the possibility of survivors' (Waugh, 2003, p. 31). 20 passengers and 3 crew lost their lives.

The 23 killed:

1. Eleanor Eileen Boddington (née Matthews)
2. Huia Duncan Boddington
3. Leonard John James Cartmer
4. Shelia Maureen Cooney
5. Leonard Derek Enchmarch
6. Graham Clifford Frederick Flyger
7. Edward Lionel Goddard
8. Tuta Hongara Te Huranga Grace
9. William Bruce Gray
10. John Russell Hardley
11. Peter George Guinness Kissel
12. Herbert Edward Lewis
13. Gavin Andrew Long
14. Norman Geoffrey Morris
15. Frederick Charles Pullum
16. Sarah Te Taumiria Seymour
17. John Smith
18. Diane Veronica Taylor
19. Leslie Frederick Taylor
20. Frederick Tolerton
21. Ruth Tolerton (née Winter)
22. Elizabeth Jill Louise Wilson
23. Kenneth John Woodger

Prime Minister of New Zealand at the time was Keith Holyoake. A public inquiry was announced by John McAlpine, Minister in Charge of Civil Aviation. The Court of Inquiry stated the 'Cause of the Accident': 'In the opinion of the Court the main cause of the accident was a strong downward current in the lee of the Kaimai Range close to the Gordon Quarry. This downward current carried the aircraft below the level of the crests of the range, where, under the conditions prevailing at the time, the aircraft encountered an area of extreme turbulence in which it was impossible for the pilot for regain effective control and recover height. Contributing causes to the accident were:

• The Captain of the aircraft was unaware of his true position and initiated a premature descent. However, it must be appreciated that he decided to descend only to the level officially designated as the minimum safe altitude in the area of his descent;
• The decision of the Civil Aviation authorities to classify the Kaimai Range as non-mountainous terrain for the purpose of determining the safe altitude for the route;
• The misleading forecasts of the upper winds between Whenuapai and Tauranga' (as cited in Waugh, 2003, p. 53).

A plaque is attached to a rock near the remains of a wing at the crash site. It reads: 'Douglas DC-3 Skyliner ZK-AYZ 'Hastings' of N. Z. National Airways Corporation crashed here into the Kaimai Range, near Mt. Ngatamahinerua, on 3 July 1963, during a scheduled flight from Auckland to Tauranga. Placed here in sacred memory of the three crew and twenty passengers who died on Flight 441. At the time this was the worst aviation accident in New Zealand. 3 July 2003'.

On the 40th anniversary of the disaster, 5 July 2003, a roadside memorial was unveiled at Gordon near Matamata. This is situated on the northeastern roadside of the Old Te Aroha Road, about 18km from Te Aroha and Matamata. The approximate area of the crash site in the Kaimai Ranges can be seen from this spot.

On the 50th anniversary of the disaster, 3 July 2013, around 250 people gathered at the memorial service held in Matamata.

Sources:

• Bay of Plenty Times (coverage from 3 July 1963 via Tauranga City Libraries).
• Bay of Plenty Times: Carnage in the Kaimai Range (28 June 2003).
• Bay of Plenty Times: Memorial marks air disaster (7 July 2003).
• 'Kaimai Crash' by Richard Waugh (2003 - reprinted 2012).
• 'More New Zealand Disasters' by Eugene Charles Grayland.
• New Zealand Memories, Aug/Sept 2003 (pp. 58-62).
• Tauranga City Libraries wiki.
• Te Ara: Encyclopaedia of New Zealand.