Ex-RNZAF Devon crash lands at Ohakea
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Ex-RNZAF Devon crash lands at Ohakea
'Nothing wrong with plane' before crash landing
03.02.06 1.00pm
By Ian Stuart
A former air force aircraft that crash landed at Ohakea today on its way to the Wellington rugby sevens tournament had no faults, pilot Paul Jones says.
He said the former air force Devon, made a heavy landing at the Ohakea air force base as it came in to land.
It had been forced down by the weather on a flight to Wellington, where the nine passengers intended to go to the rugby tournament.
Mr Jones, 44, one of the syndicate members who owned the aircraft, told NZPA that no one was hurt and the aircraft would be repaired.
He said the landing gear was down and there was nothing wrong with the Devon to cause an emergency.
"It was just a precautionary landing and it didn't work out for the best," he said.
"The aircraft is damaged and the guys will be going to the rugby in a van."
He said the incident had nothing to do with the landing gear.
"The aircraft was 100 per cent operational. There were no aircraft issues, probably just an accident," said Mr Jones, who has flown 600 hours in the Devon.
Mr Jones would not speculate further when asked if it was just a heavy landing which damaged the undercarriage.
"I don't know. I have still to go through all that in my own head."
He said he could not have given the passengers any warning of the accident because he did not know it was about to happen.
None of the nine passengers was hurt.
The Devon, one of 30 retired by the air force in 1980 and one of only four still flying in New Zealand on the civil register, were "bloody fantastic" aircraft to fly, Mr Jones said.
"I have got 600 hours in the aircraft. I have flown it right to the top of Australia, all round New Zealand. It is a great aircraft.
"The aircraft was in fantastic condition."
He said the syndicate would look at repairing the Devon.
Mr Jones has been part of the syndicate which owned the aircraft for seven years.
He said he felt a bit shaky after the crash.
"The blood pressure is up according to the doctor," Mr Jones said.
The air force took delivery of its first two Devons in 1948 with 28 more being delivered in 1951.
The last was retired in 1980.
Defence Public Relations squadron leader Glenn Davis said the Devon was privately owned but the air force's flying operations had not been affected at Ohakea.
Mr Davis said the Air Force crash unit and the Ohakea medical unit had responded to the crash.
Arrangements were being made to transport the passengers and crew from the Base.
Mr Davis said the Civil Aviation Authority would investigate the crash.
The British-built Devons were bought as pilot, navigator and signals trainers and also as communications transporters.
They were originally named the De Havilland Dove but the name was not considered suitable for a military aircraft and it was changed to Devon.
New Zealand's first two aircraft were built as Doves but the remaining 28 were Devons.
During their time with the air force, seven were lost in service, 10 were sold and two were given to the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
Several were also put into storage or used as instructional air frames.
The last, NZ1822, was retired in 1981, ending the air force's association with the Devon. They were replaced by the Fokker F27 Friendship and the Cessna Gold Eagle.
Apart from the four flying on the civil register in New Zealand, several were being restored.
The twin-engined aircraft were powered by 400 horsepower Gipsy Queen engines. They had a maximum cruising speed of 338km/h and a range of 1400km.
- NZPA
A friend and current RNZAF driver based at OH was witness to the event and suggested that this was a dodgy VFR flight in some seriously low crap weather, turned up un-announced at OH and preceded to literally crash the plane on the deck whilst manuouvering low level for a into wind landing.
Anyone else with an idea as to what happened. The RNZAF very rarely allow civil flights to land at OH even if it was one of their old comrades in arms.
Suggestions of a low level stall in the turn with a barely enough height for a recovery.
Sounds like another VFR pushing the weather boundries to hard.
S2K
03.02.06 1.00pm
By Ian Stuart
A former air force aircraft that crash landed at Ohakea today on its way to the Wellington rugby sevens tournament had no faults, pilot Paul Jones says.
He said the former air force Devon, made a heavy landing at the Ohakea air force base as it came in to land.
It had been forced down by the weather on a flight to Wellington, where the nine passengers intended to go to the rugby tournament.
Mr Jones, 44, one of the syndicate members who owned the aircraft, told NZPA that no one was hurt and the aircraft would be repaired.
He said the landing gear was down and there was nothing wrong with the Devon to cause an emergency.
"It was just a precautionary landing and it didn't work out for the best," he said.
"The aircraft is damaged and the guys will be going to the rugby in a van."
He said the incident had nothing to do with the landing gear.
"The aircraft was 100 per cent operational. There were no aircraft issues, probably just an accident," said Mr Jones, who has flown 600 hours in the Devon.
Mr Jones would not speculate further when asked if it was just a heavy landing which damaged the undercarriage.
"I don't know. I have still to go through all that in my own head."
He said he could not have given the passengers any warning of the accident because he did not know it was about to happen.
None of the nine passengers was hurt.
The Devon, one of 30 retired by the air force in 1980 and one of only four still flying in New Zealand on the civil register, were "bloody fantastic" aircraft to fly, Mr Jones said.
"I have got 600 hours in the aircraft. I have flown it right to the top of Australia, all round New Zealand. It is a great aircraft.
"The aircraft was in fantastic condition."
He said the syndicate would look at repairing the Devon.
Mr Jones has been part of the syndicate which owned the aircraft for seven years.
He said he felt a bit shaky after the crash.
"The blood pressure is up according to the doctor," Mr Jones said.
The air force took delivery of its first two Devons in 1948 with 28 more being delivered in 1951.
The last was retired in 1980.
Defence Public Relations squadron leader Glenn Davis said the Devon was privately owned but the air force's flying operations had not been affected at Ohakea.
Mr Davis said the Air Force crash unit and the Ohakea medical unit had responded to the crash.
Arrangements were being made to transport the passengers and crew from the Base.
Mr Davis said the Civil Aviation Authority would investigate the crash.
The British-built Devons were bought as pilot, navigator and signals trainers and also as communications transporters.
They were originally named the De Havilland Dove but the name was not considered suitable for a military aircraft and it was changed to Devon.
New Zealand's first two aircraft were built as Doves but the remaining 28 were Devons.
During their time with the air force, seven were lost in service, 10 were sold and two were given to the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
Several were also put into storage or used as instructional air frames.
The last, NZ1822, was retired in 1981, ending the air force's association with the Devon. They were replaced by the Fokker F27 Friendship and the Cessna Gold Eagle.
Apart from the four flying on the civil register in New Zealand, several were being restored.
The twin-engined aircraft were powered by 400 horsepower Gipsy Queen engines. They had a maximum cruising speed of 338km/h and a range of 1400km.
- NZPA
A friend and current RNZAF driver based at OH was witness to the event and suggested that this was a dodgy VFR flight in some seriously low crap weather, turned up un-announced at OH and preceded to literally crash the plane on the deck whilst manuouvering low level for a into wind landing.
Anyone else with an idea as to what happened. The RNZAF very rarely allow civil flights to land at OH even if it was one of their old comrades in arms.
Suggestions of a low level stall in the turn with a barely enough height for a recovery.
Sounds like another VFR pushing the weather boundries to hard.
S2K
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go figure..the aircraft was 100% operational.....tells me the pilot(s) obviously were not.....the eye witness account says a lot....does it seem that these occurances seem all too familiar...????
Silly Old Git
Were the days when there was a real RNZAF.
Tiger Moths Harvards Mustang DC3 Devon and the frontline up to the minute Vampire and Canberra
The creme de la creme (ask them) flew them
Tiger Moths Harvards Mustang DC3 Devon and the frontline up to the minute Vampire and Canberra
The creme de la creme (ask them) flew them
Last edited by tinpis; 5th Feb 2006 at 00:22.
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In the photo published thus far, the propellors have damage that looks suspiciously like a wheels up, the nose leg has not only collapsed it has twisted the front of the nose to destruction. The results of the "landing" certainly justify the description of a "controlled crash". In some quarters perhaps it could be called a "landing", they all walked away from it.
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prospector: From the pic on the front page of the Dompost it doesn't look like a wheels up to me because the port main wheel appears to be broken off and is lying alongside the aircraft.
The prop blade tips are bent horizontally which would indicate that they sideswiped the runway as the aircraft swung through a considerable angle after impact.
The prop blade tips are bent horizontally which would indicate that they sideswiped the runway as the aircraft swung through a considerable angle after impact.
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asked the ol,man to go down and have a look-see!!!....verdict......hard landing....very hard landing!!!!
sometimes these things just get away from you,....hopefully they had a good time at the footy match....
bugger!!!! we lost the 7,s and a good aircraft....your shout mate!!!
sometimes these things just get away from you,....hopefully they had a good time at the footy match....
bugger!!!! we lost the 7,s and a good aircraft....your shout mate!!!
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He was flying treetop height in and out of the murk, getting radar vectored onto the runway and struck a wingtip somehow on the landing and ended up like that somehow, or atleast thats what i heard from someone who talked to someone who talked to the cheif ATC at ohakea, not sure how striking a wingtip ends up like that however, the plane seems to be nicely on the centre line 
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The seven pax seemed to make the most of it. They got front row seats, free alcohol and food courtesy of the stadium management. They were somewhat celebrities with the crowd and at the last count were getting t-shirts saying something like "we survived the wellington 7's 2006".
I think that the pilot probably wasn't joining in with the festivities.......
I think that the pilot probably wasn't joining in with the festivities.......
