NZ pilot dies as Skyhawk crashes

By ANGELA GREGORY and NZPA

A Royal New Zealand Air Force pilot was killed in Australia yesterday when an aerobatic manoeuvre in a Skyhawk fighter plane went wrong.

Squadron Leader Murray Neilson was the commanding officer of No 2 Squadron based at the Australian naval base in Nowra, 120km south of Sydney.

An RNZAF spokeswoman, Pilot Officer Karen Hill, said the A4-K Skyhawk crashed late in the afternoon during an aerobatic sequence in the Nowra region.

The aircraft failed to recover from the manoeuvre and crashed before Squadron Leader Neilson could eject.

An Australian Air Force spokesman said the Skyhawk crashed into a thickly wooded area.

Pilot officer Hill said the RNZAF was assembling an investigation team to look at the circumstances surrounding the accident. The team of pilots, engineers and medical specialists would determine whether any action should be taken.

The jet hit the ground 1km from the air control tower at HMAS Albatross, the Australian Navy base from which New Zealand operates the Skyhawk squadron.

A loud explosion was heard near the base, and witnesses said they saw a jet practising manoeuvres at around tree height when it crashed, sending up a plume of smoke.

Witnesses told ABC Radio that the plane burst into flames on impact.

Squadron Leader Neilson had just completed 15 years in the RNZAF.

He leaves a wife, Sandra, and two daughters, aged 6 and 8.

The 37-year-old, from Wellington had been based at Nowra as the commanding officer since mid-1998.

The RNZAF has 19 Skyhawks, of which about six are understood to be based at Nowra, where they take part in exercises with Australian warships.

The Skyhawk was built during the 1960s and was flown by NZ and US pilots in low-level bombing missions during the Vietnam War.



It is the sixth time a Skyhawk has crashed in 30 years of service with the RNZAF, with the loss of three pilots.

The future of the fleet has been up in the air since the Government cancelled a deal to buy F-16 fighters from the United States last year.

While the Government has indicated that scrapping the Skyhawks is among options to be considered, it has also maintained that a decision is not necessary until closer to 2005, when they are due for a major overhaul.