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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 12, 2023 22:56:47 GMT 12
An interesting story from 50 years ago, from the Press, 15 December 1973:
N.Z. plane detained
(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter —Copyright) SAIGON. Dec. 14.
South Vietnamese fighter planes today forced down a New Zealand aircraft said to have lost its way over the Mekong Delta. The South Vietnamese Military Command said the plane was identified as a Fletcher 24 light commercial aircraft. After the plane was forced to land at Can Tho, 75 miles south-west of Saigon, the New Zealand pilot said he lost the way while flying from India to Singapore. It is not known whether there were other passengers in the plane, which is being detained, together with the pilot, at Can Tho. A New Zealand Embassy spokesman said the pilot was almost certainly alone in the aircraft, but no other details were available.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 12, 2023 22:58:44 GMT 12
From the Press, 18 December 1973:
Parts sent to plane
(N.Z. Press Association) HAMILTON, Dec. 17.
Spare parts are being sent from Hamilton for the Fletcher aircraft forced down over South Vietnam last week. A new alternator will replace a defective unit which probably caused the plane to stray off course. The chief executive of Aerospace Industries (Mr A. M. Coleman) said today that navigation equipment would have developed faults when the alternator failed. The Fletcher, owned by Aerospace, was forced to land at Can Tho, 75 miles from Saigon. The pilot, Mr G. Ogilvie, of Auckland, and the aircraft are being held by the South Vietnamese authorities.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 12, 2023 23:03:52 GMT 12
From the Press, 27 December 1973:
Pilot’s wife waits
(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, December 26
Mrs Jocelyn Ogilvie, the wife of an Auckland pilot forced down over South Vietnam this month, does not know when her husband will be home.
Mr Ogilvie, who was flying a Fletcher aircraft from Madras to Sydney via Singapore, strayed into Vietnamese air space through a fault in navigating equipment, and was forced down by South Vietnamese aircraft.
He telephoned his wife from Saigon on Saturday to say he had been released from detention. Mrs Ogilvie said tonight that her husband was now waiting for aircraft spares, and for the aircraft to be serviced in Saigon. She did not know when he would arrive back in New Zealand
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Post by delticman on Dec 13, 2023 8:35:57 GMT 12
From the Press, 18 December 1973: Parts sent to plane(N.Z. Press Association) HAMILTON, Dec. 17. Spare parts are being sent from Hamilton for the Fletcher aircraft forced down over South Vietnam last week. A new alternator will replace a defective unit which probably caused the plane to stray off course. The chief executive of Aerospace Industries (Mr A. M. Coleman) said today that navigation equipment would have developed faults when the alternator failed. The Fletcher, owned by Aerospace, was forced to land at Can Tho, 75 miles from Saigon. The pilot, Mr G. Ogilvie, of Auckland, and the aircraft are being held by the South Vietnamese authorities. The full story on this aircraft, ZK-DEM is recounted in Cliff Tait's book, "Water Under My Wings". Chapter 12, pages 188-194. |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 13, 2023 8:52:22 GMT 12
PRESS, 5 JANUARY 1974
Pilot still being held
(N.Z. Press Association) AUCKLAND, January 4.
The South Vietnamese Embassy in Wellington says it might be another 10 days before Mr G. Ogilvie, the Auckland pilot forced down over South Vietnam more than three weeks ago, is able to leave Saigon. An embassy spokesman has told the owner of Mr Ogilvie’s Fletcher aircraft that the South Vietnamese Government had yet to approve of Mr Ogilvie’s release.
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 13, 2023 15:59:23 GMT 12
The Press, 19 January 1974.
PILOT RETURNS
Saigon lets plane leave
(N.Z. Press Association) HAMILTON, January 18.
The Auckland pilot stranded for three weeks in South Vietnam has returned to New Zealand after flying his Fletcher aircraft to Singapore. Mr A. M. Coleman, the chief executive of Aerospace Industries, which owns the aircraft, said today that Mr Oglivie had returned to New Zealand by commercial airliner because of personal commitments.
The Fletcher was forced down by South Vietnamese fighters when it strayed over the South Vietnamese border last month.
Mr C. Tait, the chief pilot of Aerospace Industries, will leave New Zealand next week to fly the aircraft to its new owners in Australia. Mr Oglivie was held in custody for several days but was later released, and spent Christmas in a Saigon hotel awaiting spare parts from New Zealand. The South Vietnamese authorities further delayed his departure by refusing permission for the aircraft to leave.
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Post by McFly on Dec 13, 2023 17:13:46 GMT 12
ZK-DEM is listed in the 'Aviation Safety Network' (ASN) with the incident in South Vietnam ( link). ZK-DEM was also notable for being one of the few Fu24 Fletchers with wheel spats....!    And as also referenced in this previous post here ( link)  |
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Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 13, 2023 17:24:51 GMT 12
How to make a Fletcher look even uglier than normal, add spats.
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