Air force plane forced to land

MICHELLE DUFF

A Red Checkers plane from the air force aerobatics team had to make a forced landing near Waiouru today.

The plane was flying from Ohakea Air Base in Manawatu on the way to Tauranga for the Tauranga Air Show, a Defence Force spokesman confirmed in a statement.

The aircraft was damaged in the forced landing at about 4.20pm, but the pilot was not injured.

The site was being secured and an investigation was being called into the incident.

The Red Checkers' flight at the air show this weekend had been cancelled as a precaution.

Turangi Fire station deputy chief fire officer Michelle Sherwood said two fire trucks and a support van from Turangi had attended the accident, which was about 25 kilometres south of Turangi.

The light aircraft had landed about 100 metres away from the Desert Road, in a tussock-covered area.

The pilot was walking around when the fire service arrived, and "was quite calm," she said.

"He got out and was 100 per cent fine. The poor pilot said 'It looked a lot better than that from 1000 feet [up]'," Ms Sherwood said.

The fire service and ambulance were not needed, and the Desert Road was open.

Ms Sherwood understood that another plane had remained above the site as the pilot made the forced landing, and was circling overhead. That plane wouldn't have been able to land because of the tussock, she said.

In January 2010, Red Checkers aerobatic pilot Squadron Leader Nick Cree, 32, died after crashing near the Raumai weapons range, west of Bulls, while on a Red Checkers training flight.

In March the same year, the five-aircraft display team was grounded again when the canopy of one plane clipped the wheels of another as they were moving between formations. Six airshow displays had to be cancelled.

In November last year, an air force court of inquiry found a lack of training and peer review meant Cree was using an unsafe technique for the fishtail pass move he was performing when he crashed.

Air Vice-Marshal Stockwell said new procedures had been introduced, including checking the Fatigue Data Recorders so "inconsistent" flying like Cree's could be picked up.

- © Fairfax NZ News