Irishwingz
19th Mar 2004, 07:07
Any info on what display team/aircraft was involved? I hear the show is still going ahead tomorrow and Sunday.
Condolances to the families and friends of the victims.
sprocket
19th Mar 2004, 08:03
A quick search came up with this ...
Olympic gold medal-winning yachtsman Chris Timms, 56, was one of two men who died when a jet trainer crashed into the Firth of Thames this morning.
The other man on board was Kerry Campbell, 57, of Howick - chief executive of Ardmore Airport, where the plane was based and had taken off from.
Registered with the New Zealand Warbirds Association, the French two-seater Fouga Magister had taken off from Ardmore, south of Auckland, and was being put through its paces in preparation for a performance at an airshow in Taupo tomorrow.
It crashed into about 1.7m of water about 100m offshore from the township of Kaiaua. The bodies of both men on board were recovered today.
Sailing with Rex Sellars, Timms won gold at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics and silver at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, both times in the Tornado class.
Yachting New Zealand high performance manager Peter Lester said he was saddened by the loss of such a fine yachtsman, innovator and character, who was held in high regard.
"We're all in shock," he said.
West Aucklander Timms had been a co-founder of Auckland-based company Adhesive Technologies, which was regarded as a world leader in resin manufacturing and engineering for marine use.
Its products had been used on yachts competing in recent America's Cup contests.
The plane that crashed today first entered service with the French air force in June 1960, was retired in 1995 and imported to New Zealand disassembled in early 1998.
Warbirds spokesman Roy Armstrong said Timms was a member of the syndicate that owned the plane and had been the pilot in command on today's flight.
The plane had only done six or seven hours flying since being overhauled, Mr Armstrong said.
Kaiaua resident Murray Booth said he had seen the last 30m to 40m of the plane's flight as the aircraft headed vertically into the sea.
"It just went with a bump. It happened so fast."
About three people walked out towards the plane, the tail of which was still sticking out of the water.
Members of the Kaiaua Fire Brigade were on the scene quickly and the police helicopter was overhead within about 10 minutes, Mr Booth said.
As the tide went out, more of the plane was revealed but even at low tide, around 12.30pm, there was some water around the aircraft.
The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the crash, and this evening safety investigator Al Moslen told National Radio navy divers and recovery vessels were to try to get the plane off the seabed.
The tide was coming in but it would be better to get the wreckage on to the beach and investigate away from the crash site, he said.
Parts of the wreckage had been embedded in the mud.
"It is a twin jet engine, so there is some weight involved and we have a facility, a barge if you like, with a crane and lifting equipment which hopefully will be successful in getting it out of the sediment and getting it up on the beach," Mr Moslen said.
It was too early to say why the plane had crashed.
"Police have worked with a couple of witnesses that saw the aircraft briefly and I will interview those people in due course."
Witness Ricky Mamentu said the plane had looked beautiful as it manoeuvred in the sky over the sea.
"Then it went down very fast and just crashed into the sea."
Some people quickly got into the water to pick up pieces of floating debris, he said.
LINK (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,2850387a10,00.html)