Air New Zealand Flight 4374 was a flight from Gisborne which crashed while landing at

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

, killing two of the four on board.

Aircraft

The Fokker Friendship F27-500 was eight years old at the time of the crash. Until 1977 the aircraft had been operated by the

New Zealand National Airways Corporation New Zealand National Airways Corporation, popularly known as NAC, was the national domestic airline of New Zealand from 1947 until 1978 when it amalgamated with New Zealand's international airline, Air New Zealand. The airline was headquartere ...

(NAC).

Crash

At 14:28 the aircraft had descended to 3000 feet and the pilots deployed the flaps. The aircraft's speed was 165 knots, and increased to 211 knots; 2 minutes 14 seconds later the aircraft crashed into the harbour killing two, the captain and a passenger.

Cause

The investigation found that the crew were misled by a visual illusion during conditions of reduced visibility into believing they were at a safe height and failed to see the flight instruments sufficiently to confirm a safe landing path.

References

External links

*https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19790217-1 *http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/001075653L.html {{Air New Zealand 1979 in New Zealand Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Accidents and incidents involving the Fokker F27 Aviation accidents and incidents in 1979 Air New Zealand accidents and incidents Aviation accidents and incidents in New Zealand 1979 disasters in New Zealand