New Zealand National Airways Corporation Flight 441

1963 aviation accident

New Zealand National Airways Corporation Flight 441
Accident
A DC-3 similar to the accident aircraft
Date	3 July 1963
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	Near Mount Ngatamahinerua, Kaimai Ranges, New Zealand
Aircraft
Aircraft type	Douglas DC-3C (C-47B-15-DK)
Aircraft name	Hastings
Operator	National Airways Corporation
Registration	ZK-AYZ
Flight origin	Auckland Whenuapai Airport
Destination	Tauranga Airport
Passengers	20
Crew	3
Fatalities	23
Survivors	0

New Zealand National Airways Corporation Flight 441 (NZ441) was a scheduled flight of the New Zealand National Airways Corporation from Whenuapai, Auckland to Tauranga. On 3 July 1963 at approximately 9:09 am NZST, the flight, a Douglas DC-3 Skyliner, flew into a vertical rock face in the Kaimai Ranges near Mount Ngatamahinerua, at an altitude of 2460 feet (750 m). Twenty-three people were on board. Twenty-two were killed instantly; there is evidence that one person survived the impact but died shortly afterward. Three extra passengers were supposed to be on the flight, but changed their plans at the last minute.

According to Civil Aviation Authority investigators, a downdraft carried the aircraft below the level of the crests of the range, where under the very poor weather conditions prevailing at the time, the aircraft encountered an area of extreme turbulence from which it was impossible for the crew to recover altitude. On the day of the crash, another plane was caught in strong downdrafts in the Kaimai Ranges but managed to recover.

Furthermore, the crew was probably unaware of the true position of the aircraft and initiated a premature descent. However, it must be appreciated that the crew decided to descend only to the level officially designated as the minimum safe altitude in the area of the descent.

Following this accident, the Civil Aviation Authority made the decision to classify the Kaimai Ranges as mountainous terrain, which raised the minimum safe altitude for the area by 1000 feet (305 m).

Due to the remoteness of the crash, the wreckage was not recovered but secured on site by the New Zealand Army in 1964. This is similar to New Zealand's other major air disaster, Air New Zealand Flight 901, which remains on the slopes of Mount Erebus in Antarctica where it crashed.

In June 2023, however, the engine and one rear tyre were recovered. In July 2023, the recovered wreckage was included in a display at Classic Flyers Museum near Tauranga Airport, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the crash.

References

"Accident description". Aviation Safety Network. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
"New Zealand's worst air disasters". New Zealand Herald. 28 November 2008. Retrieved 21 January 2009.
^ "SunLive - Flight 441 finally makes it home - The Bay's News First". www.sunlive.co.nz. 23 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1963 (1963)
Jan 13 Elephant Mountain B-52 crashFeb 1 Ankara mid-air collisionFeb 12 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705Mar 2 Philippine Air Lines Flight 984Mar 5 Aeroflot Flight 191Mar 5 Camden PA-24 crashApr 4 Aeroflot Flight 25May 3 Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul Flight 144Jun 3 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293Jul 2 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112Jul 3 NZ National Airways Flight 441Jul 13 Aeroflot Flight 012Jul 27 United Arab Airlines Flight 869Aug 12 Air Inter Flight 2611Aug 21 Aeroflot Flight 366Aug 24 Aeroflot Flight 663Sep 4 Swissair Flight 306Oct 22 BAC One-Eleven test crashNov 8 Aero Flight 217Nov 22 Poonch IAF helicopter crashNov 29 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831Dec 8 Pan Am Flight 214
1962 ◄ ► 1964

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1963 (1963)

Jan 13 Elephant Mountain B-52 crashFeb 1 Ankara mid-air collisionFeb 12 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 705Mar 2 Philippine Air Lines Flight 984Mar 5 Aeroflot Flight 191Mar 5 Camden PA-24 crashApr 4 Aeroflot Flight 25May 3 Serviços Aéreos Cruzeiro do Sul Flight 144Jun 3 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 293Jul 2 Mohawk Airlines Flight 112Jul 3 NZ National Airways Flight 441Jul 13 Aeroflot Flight 012Jul 27 United Arab Airlines Flight 869Aug 12 Air Inter Flight 2611Aug 21 Aeroflot Flight 366Aug 24 Aeroflot Flight 663Sep 4 Swissair Flight 306Oct 22 BAC One-Eleven test crashNov 8 Aero Flight 217Nov 22 Poonch IAF helicopter crashNov 29 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 831Dec 8 Pan Am Flight 214

1962 ◄ ► 1964

v t e Air New Zealand
Former subsidiaries	Air Nelson Ansett Transport Industries Eagle Airways Fiji Airways Mount Cook Airline Virgin Australia Holdings
Predecessor	TEAL
Fleet	ATR 72-600 Airbus A320-200 Airbus A320neo Airbus A321neo Boeing 777-300ER Boeing 787-9 Bombardier Q300
Hubs	Auckland Airport Christchurch Airport Wellington Airport
Incidents and accidents	Flight 441 (1963) L-188 crash (1965) DC-8 crash (1966) Flight 103 (1978) Flight 4374 (1979) Flight 901 (1979) Flight 24 (1987) Flight 2279 (2008) Flight 888T (2008)
Destinations

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in New Zealand
Before 1960	Moncrieff and Hood disappearance (January 1928) Liberator crash at Whenuapai (August 1943)
1960s	New Zealand National Airways Corporation Flight 441 (July 1963) Air New Zealand DC-8 crash (July 1966)
1970s	Air New Zealand Flight 4374 (February 1979) Air New Zealand Flight 901 (November 1979)*
1990s	Auckland mid-air collision (November 1993) Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 (June 1995)
2000s	Airwork Flight 23 (May 2005) Eagle Airways Flight 2279 (February 2008)
2010s	Fox Glacier FU-24 crash (September 2010) Carterton hot air balloon crash (January 2012) Timona Park plane crash (January 2012) Fox Glacier helicopter crash (November 2015)
2020s	LATAM Airlines Flight 800 (March 2024)
Asterisks (*) denote an incident that took place in an associated state or dependent territory of New Zealand

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