Ansett New Zealand Flight 703

Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 was a scheduled flight from Auckland to Palmerston North. On 9 June 1995, the de Havilland Canada Dash 8-100 aircraft crashed into the Tararua Range on approach to Palmerston North. The flight attendant and three passengers died as a result of the crash; the two pilots and 15 passengers survived.

While conducting a non-precision instrument approach in inclement weather, the aircraft's right main landing gear failed to extend and the captain decided to continue the approach while the first officer performed the alternate extension procedure. Distracted by the first officer's attempt to lower the gear, the captain allowed the aircraft to drift off-profile towards the Tararua Range. Due to reasons unknown, the ground proximity warning system sounded with insufficient warning for the pilots to avert the accident.

Accident

Flight 703 took off from Auckland Airport at 08:10 AM with 18 passengers and three crew members on board. Approaching its destination, Palmerston North Airport, the pilots briefed for a preferred VOR/DME instrument approach to runway 07, performing a circle-to-land manoeuvre to land on runway 25 if needed. At the time, Palmerston North Airport was reporting winds at 290 degrees (west-north-west) at 10 to 20 knots, which indicated runway 25 as the preferred runway. Visibility was reported at 20 km reducing to 5 km, with few clouds (2 oktas) at 800 ft, scattered cloud (4 oktas) at 1200 ft, and broken cloud (6 oktas) at 2500 ft.

Due to departing traffic, air traffic control denied the approach to runway 07 and instead cleared Flight 703 for the VOR/DME approach to runway 25. While the runway 07 approach would have taken the aircraft over the relatively flat Manawatū Plains, the runway 25 approach instead took the aircraft on a 14 nmi DME arc to near Woodville. There, it would intercept the final approach track into runway 25 and descend over the northern Tararua Range.

Once on the final approach, the captain (as pilot flying) called for the landing gear to be lowered. Thirty seconds later, the two pilots noticed on the landing gear indicator that the right main landing gear was not down and locked. The captain ordered the alternate gear extension procedure and told the first officer to "whip through [the procedure] and see if we can get it out of the way before it's too late". After passengers also noticed the landing gear was not fully extended, the flight attendant communicated with the pilots to inform them of the situation.

The first officer referred to the aircraft's quick reference handbook (QRH) for the procedure, which required the pilot to open the alternate release door, pull down on the main gear release handle inside to operate the gear uplock, and then insert the handle into the manual hydraulic pump and operate it until the main gear was fully extended. The first officer, however, missed the step of pulling the release handle, to which the captain said, "You're supposed to pull the handle...". The first officer pulled the handle and said, "Yeah, that's pulled. Here we go."

Distracted by the landing gear alternate extension procedure, the captain failed to monitor the aircraft's flight path and allowed it to descend below the glide path toward the range. Less than ten seconds after the first officer pulled the manual release handle, the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) sounded. The pilots pulled back on the control column and raised the nose to 8 degrees; before they could fully react to the GPWS alarm, the plane impacted the ground at 9:22 AM. The initial impact occurred at 1272 ft above sea level; an aircraft on profile should have been 2650 ft above sea level.

Crash site

Flight 703 flew into rising terrain, striking high ground twice before the final impact, yawing to the right and breaking up as it slid along the ground. The fuselage came to rest 235 m from the site of the initial impact. The right main landing gear that the pilots were trying to extend was still in the retracted position. The crash site was located on a sheep farm, and three sheep were killed during the crash. The site of the accident is now part of the Tararua Wind Farm.

During the impact, the flight attendant who was unrestrained and leaning over a seat back to talk to a passenger was thrown to the floor and suffered fatal head injuries. Additionally, two passengers sustained fatal head, chest, and spinal injuries due to the impact. Passenger Reginald John Dixon tried to assist the two wounded passengers trapped near the wing root, as the wreckage caught fire. He received burns to 80% of his body and subsequently died from his injuries 12 days later. For his bravery in a dangerous situation, Dixon was awarded the New Zealand Cross, New Zealand's highest award for civilian bravery. In total, three passengers and the flight attendant were killed; twelve passengers and both pilots sustained serious injuries, while the remaining three passengers sustained minor injuries.

The aircraft was equipped with an emergency locator transmitter (ELT) that activated during the crash. However, the impact broke the ELT's antenna, significantly weakening the signal. First aid efforts were also hampered because the survivors were unable to locate the aircraft's first aid kits. The kits were not clearly marked, a practice dating from before 1987 when they contained narcotics and were considered theft risks. One passenger, William McGrory, found his work briefcase in the wreckage and used his mobile phone (an uncommon device in 1995) inside it to call 111. The police provided McGrory's phone number to air traffic control, which then contacted McGrory. Because of the limited visibility, the crash site appeared to be a grassy hilltop with a large stock pen nearby. Peter Roberts, with severe lacerations to his head and a fractured neck, managed to follow the fenceline and pace out a rough distance from the crash to these stock pens to allow McGrory to give rescue services a better idea of the crash location.

After speaking with local farmers, air traffic control pinpointed the likely location of the crash in the Tararua Range. Two helicopters searching the area detected the weak ELT signal from the crashed aircraft. They located the wreckage at 10:19 AM, 57 minutes after the crash, off Hall Block Road on the Woodville side of the range. The survivors were transported by helicopter and road ambulance to Palmerston North Hospital and Wellington Hospital. The last survivor arrived at the hospital at 12:07 PM.