Fairchild Industries Inc. SA227-AC, ZK-POA, New Zealand

On 3 May 2005, Metroliner SA227-AC, registered ZK-POA, was operating a freight service from Auckland to Blenheim, New Zealand. The aircraft was reported to have experienced an in-flight breakup near Stratford and both pilots, the only occupants, were fatally injured.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) of New Zealand was responsible for investigating this accident and requested assistance from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) to recover information from the flight recorders. In accordance with the Transport Safety Investigation (TSI) Act 2003, the Executive Director of the ATSB approved the request and the recorders were transported to the ATSB by a TAIC investigator on 16 May 2005.

The cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and flight data recorder (FDR) were examined by ATSB recorder specialists and information was successfully recovered from both recorders.

Once it has been completed, a copy of the TAIC investigation report (05-006) may be found at: www.taic.org.nz or by contacting:

TAIC,
PO Box 10-323
Wellington 6036
New Zealand