Two killed as plane nose-dives off Nelson
By
BARRY SIMPSON,
J, in Nelson
An instructor and his pupil were killed when the Cessna 152 in which they were flying crashed into knee-deep water off Rabbit Island, Nelson, yesterday afternoon.
They were Christopher Robert Black, aged 27, married, an instructor of Motueka, and Michael John Mulvena, aged 31, single, of Whites Road, Hope. The accident occurred about 3.50 p.m. as the aircraft was flying off the long beach of Rabbit Island, a favourite picnic and barbecue area about 25km from Nelson by road, but just minutes flying time from either Nelson Airport or the Motueka Aerodrome.
bodies were recovered from the aircraft, one with hydraulic cutting gear.
based at Motueka. He was working part-time yesterday for the Air Nelson Flying School, which is run by Air Nelson, Ltd, out of Nelson Airport.
The assistant caretaker of the Rabbit Island Domain pulled the aircraft out of the water with a tractor and it was later winched 40m further up the beach by a breakdown truck and taken to Nelson Airport.
The 1977 model aircraft was flying out of Nelson when the accident occurred.
Mr Robert Inglis, managing director of Motueka Air — which also runs Air Nelson — said last evening that some 20,000 hours of instruction had been given by the schools without serious incident until today.
An inspector of air accidents will investigate the crash today. Aircraft are usually not moved until they have been seen by an inspector but the police were concerned about the tide. Mr Black was an instructor for the Nelson Aviation College, a ground-based commercial pilot graduation school
About 300 picnickers looked on.
One report was that the aircraft spiralled straight down into the sea into about 60cm of water. The nose of the aircraft was buried in the sand. Both
Mr Black had been instructing for about two years and had been on the permanent staff of the college since last Christmas.
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Press, 2 June 1986, Page 1
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326Two killed as plane nose-dives off Nelson Press, 2 June 1986, Page 1
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