Ansett New Zealand Flight 703

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**Ansett New Zealand Flight 703**
Summary
Date	June 5, 1995
Type	CFIT
Site	Tararua Ranges, New Zealand
Fatalities	4
Injuries	17
Aircraft
Aircraft type	de Havilland DHC-8
Operator	Ansett New Zealand
Tail number	ZK-NEY
Passengers	18
Crew	3
Survivors	17

Ansett New Zealand Flight 703 was an Ansett New Zealand scheduled flight from Auckland Airport to Palmerston North. On June 9, 1995, the Dash 8 aircraft flying this route crashed west of the Tararua Ranges and 16 km east of Palmerston North airport, during an instrument approach in bad weather. The flight was carrying 18 passengers and 3 crew members. All passengers were New Zealand citizens except for a United States citizen.

During the approach to a right turn which would place the aircraft on final approach to runway 25, the right landing gear of the aircraft 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 [1] toward the undulating terrain leading into Palmerston North.

Although the aircraft's Ground Proximity Warning System emitted 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 report an audio alarm of "Terrain Terrain Whoop Whoop Pull Up" should have sounded 17 seconds before impact, but the GPWS malfunctioned (for reasons which have never been determined).

The aircraft pancaked onto a hilltop and broke up as it slid along the ground, killing a flight attendant and three passengers and injuring all others on board. The aircraft, ZK-NEY, a de Havilland DHC-8, was manufactured in Canada.