Plane crashes on glacier

Press, 29 August 1980, Page 1

Plane crashes on glacier

The pilot and five passengers of the Mount Cook Line ski-plane which crashed on the Fox Glacier at midday yesterday, were lucky to survive, according to a park ranger.

“If the plane had not come to a halt quickly after crashing, I think it would have been lucky if anyone had survived,” said the chief ranger of the Mount Cook National Park, Mr H. A. Youngman. The aircraft stopped just' before a 300-metre drop.

The Cessna 185, on a scenic flight from Franz Josef Glacier; crashed soon aft ' taking off on the Fox Glacier snowfield. The rescue, involving at

its peak 20 people, four helicopters, and ■ three fixed-wing planes, began when the crash was seen by another Mount Cook flight just after midday.

The three most seriously injured occupants of the Cessna were flown by helicopter to Greymouth Hospital. The other three were taken to the Fox Glacier ranger station, where medical treatment was given before they were taken to hospital. The pilot, lan Cameron, of Skeets Road, Okaiawa, near Hawera, was reported to have serious head injuries. A passenger, Peter Roodbeen of 1 McAlpine Road, ,12 R.D., Hawera, was in a stable condition.

The police had not released the names of the other four passengers last evening. They are believed to be two married couples from Brisbane and Sydney. Mr Youngman co-ordin-ated the rescue on the snowfield yesterday. He praised the efforts of all involved, and said that the doctors from Whataroa, and Twizel, and a surgeon from Greymouth, did “a tremendous” job. Those helping included national parks staff, Mount Cook Line staff, the Westland chief ranger (Mr A. Cragg) and the pilots. The crash occurred at a height of about 2200 m soon after the Cessna had taken off.

The police and the Westland National Park Board have banned further aircraft landings on the glacier pending an investigation by an inspector of air accidents.

Mr P. S. Phillips, the company’s managing director, said that more than 530,000 passengers had flown on the 155,000 skiplane scenic flights the line had provided in the last 25 years.

The only other serious accident involving one of the line’s ski-planes was about 12 years ago when two people were seriously injured in a crash at Fox Glacier.