PLANE MISSING; FIVE ABOARD

Press, Volume CI, Issue 29746, 13 February 1962, Page 12

PLANE MISSING; FIVE ABOARD

Flight To Milford From City

A twin-engined de Havilland Dragonfly aircraft belonging to Air Charter (NX) Ltd., with five persons aboard, is missing on a scenic flight from Christchurch to Milford Sound.

An intensive aerial search by four aircraft yesterday afternoon ended with negative results when dusk fell.

Aboard the Royal blue and silver-winged Dragonfly, which left Christchurch airport at 9.52 a.m., were the pilot and managing director of Air Charter (N.Z.), Ltd. (Mr B. G. Chadwick), and four passengers—three men and a woman.

The Dragonfly was equipped with v.h.f. radio but after initial communication with the control tower at take-off no further messages were heard from Captain Chadwick.

The Civil Aviation Administration at once checked with at least 12 possible airfields en route at which Captain Chadwick could have landed. Once it was established he had not used any of them, the Search and Rescue Organisation at Wigram was alerted.

The Dragonfly had a fuel endurance of four hours from take-off at Christchurch. This was sufficient for the direct flight to Milford. Normally, the plane would refuel at Queenstown. It is believed that two of the passengers are Australian tourists, one an Australian working in New Zealand, and the fourth person is believed to have relatives in the North Island

Chief-Inspector J B. McLean. who is in charge of the police section of the search, said it had been agreed that the names would not be released until the relatives of all passengers had been notified.

Two farmers in the Rangitata Gorge report hearing an aircraft flying south between 10.30 a.m. and 11 a.m. The aircraft was in fog and they did not see it.

They said the plane flew over the Tannerhorn range lust east of the Hakatere and Mount Possession stations.

According to the Regional Superintendent of Civil Avia*ion (Mr L E Duke), the lack of a message from the plane was not considered unusual in view of the rugged terrain it was flying over, and the limited range of the equipment. Search and Rescue operations swung into action almost immediately after the message was received in Christchurch to say that the Dragonfly was half an hour overdue. Its normal time of arrival at the Milford strip is 12 37 p.m. Taking part in the search, which got under way about 3 p.m., were a Harvard and a Devon from the Royal New Zeeland Air Force station. Wigram. a Cessna of Southern Scenic Air Services, Ltd., and a Dominie flown by West Coast Airways. Each of these aircraft, apart from the Devon, made a second sweep before tailing light ended activities for the day.

From Wignam a Harvard took off at 3.7 p.m. to search in the mountains along the route as far as the Franz Josef glacier. It was followed at 4.59 p.m. by a Devon which also flew down the route, searching more particularly in the foothills. About 3 p.m. a Cessna aircraft belonging to Southern Scenic Air Services, Ltd., took off from Milford to cover the area over to Mussel Point, while from Hokitika airfield a West Coast Airways Dominie flew south along the coastal stretch to Mussel Point Because of low cloud and poor visibility about Mount Cook, Mount Cook Air Services, Ltd., was unable to send a plane to join in the search. Although cloudy in this particular area the weather over the West Coast was clear during the search Late in the afternoon each of the aircraft returned to their respective bases after initial sweeps to report no sightings. The Cessna set off aeain on a second flight to Mussel Point almost immediately and the West Coas' Airways Dominie also took off again for the Mount Cook area. Again, no sightings were made.

At 19 p.m. yesterday a full meeting of the Search and Rescue Organisation was held at Wigram to plan today’s operations and determine the specific search zones.

Utilising all available aircraft from Queenstown. Milford Sound, Mount Cook, Rokitika, and from the Royal New Zealand Air Force station at Wigram. a full-scale search of the route followed by the Dr«“onflv will be mounted The 240-mile route normally followed by Captain Chadwick is from Christchurch over the Canterbury Plains, the Rakaia Gorge and the Mackenzie Country to Lakes Tekapo. Pukaki. and Ohau, thence via the Lindis

Pass and Lakes Hawea and Wanaka to Queenstown, the Remarkables and Lake Wakatipu to Milford Sound The return flight is made across the Arrowsmith Range and Lake Coleridge Captain Chadwick, who formerly was a pilot in the Royal Air Force, was an independent operator. He is described as being a very experienced pilot, and had made this particular flight dozens of times. Most of the bookings for his air charter services are arranged by the Government Tourist Bureau in Christchurch. In January, 1958. Captain Chadwick flew a twin-

engined Lockheed Electra to Christchurch on a roundabout 24,000-mile delivery flight from the United States for Trans Island Airways. The year Lefore he flew an American-built Beechcraft from the United States to Christchurch for the same company. On this flight he flew the twin-engined monoplane the 1200-mile leg from Norfolk Island to Christchurch in 6hr lOmin.