Failed To Get Out Of Dive

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30939, 21 December 1965, Page 3

Failed To Get Out Of Dive

(New Zealand Frets Association) WELLINGTON, Dec. 20. The crash of a Rallye Commodore aircraft at Turangaomoana, near Matamata, on March 27, with the loss of four lives, was caused by the aircraft emerging from an inadvertent spin in a dive and at a height which precluded recovery before it struck the ground, the Chief Inspector of Accidents, Wing Commander O. J. O’Brien, says in his report.

The report says that while the aircraft was engaged on a demonstration flight, it was seen to enter a righthand spin. Wing Commander O’Brien says no factor of negligence was apparent in the circumstances of the accident. He also says; Both pilots—Lloyd Wilson Seabrook, aged 31, and James Roland Meredith, aged 30 held valid licences with appropriate type ratings. The aircraft was covered by a valid certificate of airworthiness and maintenance release. No pre-impact defect or failure of the aircraft or its engine is likely to have occurred. The observed series of stalls was being carried out at a height which provided adequate clearance for safe recoveries to be

made in the type of aircraft Involved. The gross weight of the aircraft and the location of the centre of gravity at the time the spin developed have not been established. It Is considered, however, that both were close to permissible limits. Recovery from the spin was partially effected before the aircraft struck the ground with wings levelled laterally and the nose of the aircraft in an approximate 45 degrees nose-down attitude with power on.