Pilot dies in crash after take-off
PA Auckland A topdressing pilot was killed when an aircraft crashed into bush seconds after take-off near Warkworth yesterday. He was Bruce Massey, aged in his early 40s, married, of Warkworth.
The Fletcher aircraft apparently nosedived and flipped on to its back in bush on a farm 10km east of Matakana.
Mr Massey had just taken off from a private airstrip on the first of several planned spreading flights. He jettisoned his load of phosphate and clipped a wire fence within seconds of becoming airborne. Constable John Stephen, of the Warkworth police, said the aircraft crashed less than a minute later.
A second part of the tail was found 100 metres from the wreckage.
The alarm was raised about 3.30 p.m. by a fencing contractor. The contractor, Mr Tony McCarthy, had gone in search of the aircraft when it failed to appear from behind surrounding hills.
Mr Dave Wenzlick, a member of the Warkworth search and rescue crew called to the scene, described Mr Massey as a most experienced pilot.
He had flown in the area at least 20 years.
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Press, 7 May 1987, Page 1
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186Pilot dies in crash after take-off Press, 7 May 1987, Page 1
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