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Post by flyinkiwi on Dec 12, 2016 8:52:47 GMT 12
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 9:44:33 GMT 12
Latest news is that the crash has cut power to Gisborne!
And that it's an agricultural aircraft. Stuff's homepage preview photo for the article is of a PAC 750XL/P-750 XSTOL.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 9:56:16 GMT 12
Farmers Air just confirmed it's one of theirs. The photo Stuff was using as a preview photo was from the Farmers Air website.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 12, 2016 10:10:51 GMT 12
Eastland Energy Network are advising Gisborne customers that power is expected to be out to Gisborne and the entire East Coast until at least tomorrow. It's obvious that there must have been a major wire-strike on the main transmission line to Gisborne. Due to the projected timespan of the outage, I'm wondering if it has taken out a pylon. I lived in Gisborne for 20½ years from March 1978 until October 1998 and one of the real infrastructure weaknesses of that area is a single power grid line into the area from the southwest, from a substation near the Waikaremoana power stations at Onepoto, Tuai and PiriPaua. During the time I lived there, that weakness of a single grid line often came up with many local interests lobbying the government to finance a second grid line into the district from the eastern Bay of Plenty, but that always ran up against a brick wall. I guess what was always feared has happened and that single grid line has been taken out.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 10:17:55 GMT 12
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 12, 2016 10:27:09 GMT 12
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 12, 2016 10:33:37 GMT 12
The Gisborne Herald website is down completely.
It would appear they don't have backup generators to power their servers.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 10:41:33 GMT 12
Stuff's not confirmed any casualties and repeatedly stating only one was on board.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 12, 2016 10:45:38 GMT 12
Here's a 1:250,000 topomap of the area with 100-metre contour lines....  You can see the main power grid transmission line through the Tiniroto-Hangaroa area with pylons shown by the little circles on the line. There is some bloody rugged country in there....I used to often travel to Waikaremoana via the backroad through there. |
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 12, 2016 11:04:49 GMT 12
Local St John ambulance in the Tiniroto area are saying there were two people onboard the aircraft and that they are both dead.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 12, 2016 11:09:03 GMT 12
repeatedly stating only one was on board. That says one was flying Zac, not one on board. Usually in topdressing they carry the farmer as a local guide to boundaries, as I understand it. So likely a pilot and a local killed? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 11:12:49 GMT 12
My guess would be pilot and loader driver. Stuff said the Chief Pilot couldn't confirm how many are on board.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 12, 2016 12:09:55 GMT 12
On the 1:00pm Radio NZ News, they are saying Civil Defence are warning that power could be out to Gisborne for up to two days and that six conductors were broken. That power grid line is three-phase pairs, so that means the whole lot have been brought down. Must have been a hell of an impact and an awesome electrical fireworks display. The latest news releases from Eastland Network (who own the Gisborne/East Coast power lines network) can be viewed HERE |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 12, 2016 13:01:16 GMT 12
Dave's post with the TVNZ info was sadly correct:
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 12, 2016 13:19:32 GMT 12
I've just been talking on the phone to a friend of mine who is a Chorus faultman and he is working in the area at the moment. He said the crash scene is just off Ruakaka Road and there are emergency services personel everywhere and lots of helicopter traffic. I see there is an airstrip only about 100 metres away from the power lines and another airstrip about a kilometre away from the lines, three kilometres further down Ruakaka Road.  |
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Post by thomarse on Dec 12, 2016 13:58:19 GMT 12
The "other airstrip three kilometres down Ruakaka Road" also has a sad place in ag aviation history. It was the strip from which Cookson's PA18A BVH was flying when it crashed in October 1963 with the loss of the pilot Albert Liebe.
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Post by kiwithrottlejockey on Dec 12, 2016 15:04:02 GMT 12
In the latest from Radio NZ News, Civil Aviation are saying the aircraft hit the power lines, then carried on for another two kilometres before hitting the ground.
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Post by Mustang51 on Dec 12, 2016 15:14:29 GMT 12
Again, condolences to all the family members. Dec 7 2007 we lost Col Pay so it does not matter how experienced you are with matters close to the ground. Some very rugged country around there as shown on the topo and mentioned by KTJ
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 12, 2016 15:25:05 GMT 12
Indeed, condolences to the families and the workmates and friends  |
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Post by isc on Dec 12, 2016 20:23:44 GMT 12
The power company is in the process of getting a dozer in to haul the cables, it's an 800 meter span. The cables are coming from else where, the pylons appear to be ok from all reports.
It takes less than an earthquake to paralyse a complete district. isc
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