Plane prank takes off...
PA Dunedin An April Fool’s Day prank by Radio 4ZB on Saturday led about 400 Dunedin people to believe an R.N.Z.A.F. Strikemaster jet would land and take off from John Wilson Ocean Drive, near St Kilda beach. Between 6 a.m. and 9 a.m. the station broadcast messages saying the road would be closed for the arrival of the jet at 9.10 a.m. By then large crowds had gathered with cameras to view the spectacle, only to find a person running along the road holding a small plastic model plane. A spokesman for 4ZB said most people took the prank light-heart-edly, while “one or two” became irate and made their strong feelings known to a station representative at the scene.
Ten Strikemaster aircraft from the No. 14 Squadron, R.N.Z.A.F., based at Ohakea, are in Dunedin for a weeklong exercise. Another prank had prospective customers lining up at the Auckland Stock Exchange “garage sale.”
Among the offerings were rubberised cheque books, 71 Porsches and 70 BMWs.
The Stock Exchange manager, Graeme Pedersen, doubted the caper would do the newly-restructured exchange any harm. “Anything’s fair game on April Fool’s Day,” he said. “The Stock Exchange is a fair target at the moment — particularly the way a number of prominent companies and directors have fallen from fame recently,” Mr Pedersen said.
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Press, 3 April 1989, Page 8
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221Plane prank takes off... Press, 3 April 1989, Page 8
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