On 4 July 1966 an Air New Zealand

Douglas DC-8-52 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Jul ...

with the registration ZK-NZB crashed on takeoff on a routine training flight from Auckland International Airport killing 2 of the 5 crew on board.

Aircraft

The aircraft registered ZK-NZB was the second Douglas DC-8-52 delivered new to the airline in August 1965. It was one year old at the time of the crash.

Accident

The aircraft took off at 3:59pm. Shortly after rotation the aircraft began to pitch up faster and higher than usual, the right wing dropped and the aircraft started turning to the right. The aircraft failed to gain speed and altitude, the right wingtip struck the ground and cartwheeled while disintegrating, the initial impact occurred beyond the threshold and right of runway 23, the aeroplane was completely destroyed.

Cause

The crash was due to reverse thrust applied during a simulated failure of no.4 engine on takeoff. The situation occurred when very rapid rearward movement of the power lever caused the associated thrust brake lever to enter the reverse idle position. After take-off, minimum control speed (M_CS) required to overcome this abnormal state of thrust imbalance was never achieved. The condition was recognised by the pilots and rectified but there was not enough time nor altitude available to allow the aircraft to recover.

References

{{Air New Zealand Air New Zealand accidents and incidents Aviation accidents and incidents in 1966 Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-8 Aviation accidents and incidents in New Zealand 1966 disasters in New Zealand 1966 in New Zealand