Pilot error, mechanical failure behind New Zealand skydiving crash
Pilot error or mechanical failure were the most likely causes of a 2010 plane crash in New Zealand in which nine people died, a coroner found yesterday. The Fletcher FU24 crashed and burst into flames shortly after take-off on September 4, 2010, near the Fox Glacier on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island, in the nation's worst air accident since 1993.
Pilot error or mechanical failure were the most likely causes of a 2010 plane crash in New Zealand in which nine people died, a coroner found yesterday.
The Fletcher FU24 crashed and burst into flames shortly after take-off on September 4, 2010, near the Fox Glacier on the west coast of New Zealand's South Island, in the nation's worst air accident since 1993.
Operated by Skydive New Zealand, the plane was carrying a pilot, four skydiving instructors and four tourists, from Britain, Ireland, Germany and Australia. There were no survivors.
Coroner Richard McElrea found the plane, a converted crop duster, was overloaded and off balance when it took off on a "near vertical" climb, then apparently stalled before crashing.
"It is unlikely that the cause of the crash will ever be fully understood - something unusual, such as inadvertent pilot error or engine malfunction/mechanical failure, has occurred at take-off," he said.