Ansett New Zealand Flight 703

Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 was an Ansett New Zealand scheduled passenger transport flight from Auckland Airport to Palmerston North. On June 9, 1995 the de Havilland Canada Dash 8 aircraft flying this route crashed into hilly terrain in the Tararua Ranges, 16 km east of Palmerston North airport, during an instrument approach in bad weather. The aircraft was carrying 18 passengers and three crew members. All passengers were New Zealand citizens except for one United States citizen. The flight attendant and three passengers died as a result of the crash.

Aircraft And Crew
The aircraft, registration ZK-NEY, a de Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8, was manufactured in Canada in 1986. It had accumulated 22,154 flight hours and 24,976 flight cycles.

The captain was 40-year-old Garry Norman Sotheran, who had 7,765 flight hours, including 273 on the Dash 8. The first officer was 33-year-old Barry Brown, who had 6,460 flight hours, including 341 on the Dash 8 Q-102

Accident
During the approach to a right turn which would place the aircraft on final approach to runway 25, the right landing gear failed to fully extend so the co-pilot began to manually extend it using a hydraulic pump. The aircraft's power settings had already been reduced to Flight Idle which was normal, but the aircraft was inadvertently allowed to descend too low toward the undulating terrain leading into Palmerston North. The initial impact with terrain occurred at 1,272 feet (388 m) above sea level; an aircraft on profile should have been 2,650 feet (810 m) above sea level.

Although Flight 703's Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) sounded an alarm four seconds before the aircraft hit the ground, the crew was unable to avoid the accident. According to the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) report, an audio alarm telling the crew to climb the aircraft should have sounded 17 seconds before impact, but the GPWS malfunctioned, for reasons that have never been determined. There was an investigation by the New Zealand Police in 2001 into whether or not a mobile phone call from the aircraft may have interfered with the system. The official crash report does mention the following on page 69:

The captain's defence was that 4.5 seconds before impact the radar altimeter display flipped 1,000 feet in altitude as he watched.

Crash Site
Flight 703 pancaked onto a hilltop and broke up as it slid along the ground, killing the flight attendant instantly. Passenger Reginald John Dixon tried to free two others trapped near the wing root as the wreckage caught fire. He failed to free them and a flash fire critically burned him. He died from his injuries two weeks later. Thus, three passengers also died and many others sustained injuries.

For his bravery in a dangerous situation, Dixon was awarded the New Zealand Cross, New Zealand's highest award for civilian bravery.

Possible Radar Failure
Later study of the wreckage of Flight 703 revealed that the antennas for the radar altimeter (which sends a signal to the GPWS indicating how far above the ground the aircraft is) had been painted and this possibly reduced the GPWS's ability to provide a timely alarm, although later comments by TAIC insisted the paint did not block or reflect signals. Radar altimeter antennas are clearly embossed with the words, "do not paint", a warning that was not heeded. Bench testing of the radar altimeter proved the unit was still functioning perfectly after its recovery from the wreckage.

Narrative
At 08:17 Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 departed Auckland (AKL) as scheduled bound for Palmerston North (PMR).

To the north of Palmerston North the pilots briefed themselves for a VOR/DME approach to runway 07 which was the approach they preferred. Subsequently Air Traffic Control specified the VOR/DME approach for runway 25, due to departing traffic, and the pilots re-briefed for that instrument approach. The IMC involved flying in and out of stratiform cloud, but continuous cloud prevailed during most of the approach. The aircraft was flown accurately to join the 14 nm DME arc and thence turned right and intercepted the final approach track of 250° M to the Palmerston North VOR. During the right turn, to intercept the inbound approach track, the aircraft’s power levers were retarded to 'flight idle' and shortly afterwards the first officer advised the captain ".... 12 DME looking for 4000 (feet)". The final approach track was intercepted at approximately 13 DME and 4700 feet, and the first officer advised Ohakea Control "Ansett 703" was "established inbound". Just prior to 12 miles DME the captain called "Gear down". The first officer asked him to repeat what he had said and then responded "OK selected and on profile, ten - sorry hang on 10 DME we’re looking for four thousand aren’t we so - a fraction low". The captain responded, "Check, and Flap 15". This was not acknowledged but the first officer said, "Actually no, we’re not, ten DME we’re..... (The captain whistled at this point) look at that". The captain had noticed that the right hand main gear had not locked down: "I don’t want that." and the first officer responded, "No, that’s not good is it, so she’s not locked, so Alternate Landing Gear...?" The captain acknowledged, "Alternate extension, you want to grab the QRH?" After the First Officer’s "Yes", the captain continued, "You want to whip through that one, see if we can get it out of the way before it’s too late." The captain then stated, "I’ll keep an eye on the airplane while you’re doing that."

The first officer located the appropriate "Landing Gear Malfunction Alternate Gear Extension" checklist in Ansett New Zealand’s Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) and began reading it. He started with the first check on the list but the captain told him to skip through some checks. The first officer responded to this instruction and resumed reading and carrying out the necessary actions. It was the operator’s policy that all items on the QRH checklists be actioned, or proceeded through, as directed by the captain. The first officer started carrying out the checklist. The captain in between advised him to pull the Main Gear Release Handle. Then the GPWS’s audio alarm sounded. Almost five seconds later the aircraft collided with terrain. The Dash 8 collided with the upper slope of a low range of hills.

Probable Cause
CAUSAL FACTORS: "The captain not ensuring the aircraft intercepted and maintained the approach profile during the conduct of the non-precision instrument approach, the captain's perseverance with his decision to get the undercarriage lowered without discontinuing the instrument approach, the captain's distraction from the primary task of flying the aircraft safely during the first officer's endeavours to correct an undercarriage malfunction, the first officer not executing a Quick Reference Handbook procedure in the correct sequence, and the shortness of the ground proximity warning system warning."

In The Media
Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 was dramatised in the 8th episode of Season 21 on the show Mayday titled "Caught in a Jam”

R.I.P To The 3 People Aboard Ansett New Zealand Flight 703.