Pilot ‘forgot to put down skis’

Press, 29 June 1985, Page 3

Pilot ‘forgot to put down skis’

PA Wellington A Mount Cook Airline pilot who crashed his aircraft on the Tasman Glacier had forgotten to put down his retractable skis, say air accident investigators. The pilot, aged 24, had joined the airline four months previously and was experienced at flying in the mountains, the investigators said in a report issued yesterday. With five passengers aboard his Cessna 185 A, the pilot took off from Mount Cook Aerodrome on September 27, 1984, for a routine scenic flight and landed on the upper neve. The landing area was being used by other aircraft which had left distinctive tracks in the dee* snow. y

The pilot made his approach watched from the ground by his chief pilot. As he lined up for touchdown, in the final stages of descent on to the snow, the pilot realised his skis were not down. There was insufficient time to extend them and so the pilot tried to fly away, turning tightly to avoid terrain. However a wing tip struck deep powdery snow and the Cessna collapsed on the mountainside. The passengers all suffered minor injuries. The pilot had never been instructed by the airline on the effect of landing the aircraft with skis up, and the investigators said that would have been a better alternative.