An interesting case from 1970

[Dave Homewood]

I found this an interesting incident. From The Press, 20 July 1970:

Glider Crashes; Search Started

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, July 19.

A single-seater glider crashed in dense bush about 15 miles inland from Paraparaumu this afternoon. The fate of the pilot, Mr Malcolm Cunningham, aged about 40, a dentist, of Paraparaumu, is not known.

The pilot of a Wellington aircraft, Mr G. Aspin, who sighted the crashed glider late this afternoon, could see no sign of life.

But Mr Cunninghame may have used the parachute he was wearing before the glider plunged into the bush. A police search and rescue party will set out for the crash at first light tomorrow morning, guided from the air by an Air Force spotter plane.

The party spent tonight camped at the end of a forestry road inland from Paraparaumu. Mr Aspin said the glider, a high-performanee machine, had crashed into dense bush at the bottom of a gully. One wing was torn off and was lying apart from the rest of the wreckage. The fuselage was lying on its side but it appeared to be in one piece.

“It’s pretty wild country. The turbulence stopped us from going down close to get a really good look,” he said. Mr Cunninghame set off at 10.30 a.m. on an endurance flight Mr Aspin piloted the tow plane that released him at 3000 feet. It was not till five hours had elapsed that gliding club officials became concerned for his safety. Club members described Mr Cunninghame as a “reasonably experienced” pilot.

[Dave Homewood]

From The Press, 21 July 1970:

Glider Found But Pilot Missing

(New Zealand Press Association;

WELLINGTON, July 20.

The police are puzzled about the fate of the Paraparaumu dentist, John Cunninghame, whose glider crashed in the Akatarawa Ranges on Sunday.

A Wellington Gliding Club instructor, Mr J. Higgins, pin-pointed the wrecked glider from the air about noon today. A police search party reached the wreck about 4.22 p.m., but found no sign of Mr Cunninghame. Hie canopy was covering the cockpit of the glider, but it was not fastened. No traces of blood could be found.

The compass and first-aid kit were still in place, but Mr Cunninghame’s parachute was missing. The police could find no trace of boot or foot marks, or anything to show that Mr Cunninghame was in the glider when it crashed. Mr Cunninghame could have used the parachute to jump as the glider went out

of control, or he may have taken it with him after the crash to use as a protective covering if he did not find help by nightfall. Tonight is not a comfortable one for a man alone in the bush. The Meteorological Service predicted wind, rain and snow to low levels in the area.

The wreckage is about 1500 feet up Deadwood Hill, 7½ miles from Paraparaumu Airport. The search controller, Superintendent L. D. Bridge, said tonight that a field headquarters had been set up near the Akatarawa saddle. Five search teams had worked in the area today and another would join them tomorrow, he said.

[Dave Homewood]

From The Press, 22 July 1970:

Pilot Of Crashed Glider Found

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, July 21.

A crash landing in rugged country and a 20ft fall from a tree were recounted today by a glider pilot, Mr Malcolm Cunninghame, after a search party brought him out from the Deadwood Hills, east of Paraparaumu, where his aircraft crashed on Sunday.

Rescuers brought the 40-year-old dentist to the field search control headquarters, three miles west of the Akatarawa Ranges summit, at 1.50 p.m.

Mr Cunninghame was uninjured apart from a bruised hip suffered in the fall from the tree.

He said his five-hour endurance flight had been going well when cloud closed in quickly. Coming down out of the cloud he found himself in a valley and could not find a rising air current to lift the glider clear. He selected a clear area to land but as he approached one of the glider's wings clipped a tree.

"I cartwheeled sideways and came to rest on a steep face,” he said. “This was the most terrifying moment of the lot.”

He left the glider because it was in a position where he thought it would be unlikely to be spotted from the air. He photographed the crashed glider before making his way up the face to a logging track. He took with him the parachute, a barograph containing a record of the altitudes attained on his flight, and a log book. He later lost the log books and barograph in a stream.

He said his life was probably saved by his thick woollen jersey, his parachute, which he used for shelter, and by exercising in the cold at night.

His first night in the bush was fairly comfortable in a thatched shelter, which he built but last night was very cold and he doubted whether he would survive.

Mr Cunninghame fell from the tree yesterday after attempting to signal to a search aircraft. He broke his glasses in the fall and this hampered his movements, later.

He said he found a logging track after his crash landing. He followed the track for some distance to the south. The track eventually petered out and he moved into rough country. He followed a stream, hoping it would lead him to safety. If he had followed the track in the opposite direction when he first came across it he would have walked out to safety probably in little more than an hour.

Mr Cunninghame said he sucked moss from tree trunks for water but had no food. He never felt hungry until he realised a search aircraft had found him this morning.

"After this my stomach suddenly felt very empty for I realised I was going to get out of it,” he said.


Mr M. CUNNINGHAME (middle) is shown in the photograph arriving at the field search headquarters. With him are rescuers and reporters.

[Peter Lewis]

Schleicher Ka 6CR Rhönsegler ZK-GFG of the Wellington Gliding Club.

[madmax]

The pilot of the tow plane mentioned in the first item was Gil Aspin who I flew with from wellington during 1960s. He was the aviation representative for Brown & Duera Ltd and was responsible for the importation of the first Grumman Agcat ZK-CLQ

[thomarse]

I remember the event but not that it was Malcolm Cunninghame involved. He was also a tow pilot at Upper Valley and, IIRC, once the owner of DH82 ASG.

I tried to contact him a few years ago when the UVGC was celebrating an anniversary - 50 years maybe.

Good on the media - 71 miles from PP would put the site somewhere out to sea off the Wairarapa Coast! As it is, it must be close to the site of the accident involving the PA28 CII on 23.7.72 which was on a logging track on the Deadwood Ridge

[Antonio]

Sept 22, 2024 17:39:29 GMT 12 thomarse said:

I remember the event but not that it was Malcolm Cunninghame involved. He was also a tow pilot at Upper Valley and, IIRC, once the owner of DH82 ASG.

I tried to contact him a few years ago when the UVGC was celebrating an anniversary - 50 years maybe.

Good on the media - 71 miles from PP would put the site somewhere out to sea off the Wairarapa Coast! As it is, it must be close to the site of the accident involving the PA28 CII on 23.7.72 which was on a logging track on the Deadwood Ridge

Earlier WoNZ link about Deadwood Ridge

[Dave Homewood]

Sept 22, 2024 17:39:29 GMT 12 thomarse said:

Good on the media - 71 miles from PP would put the site somewhere out to sea off the Wairarapa Coast! As it is, it must be close to the site of the accident involving the PA28 CII on 23.7.72 which was on a logging track on the Deadwood Ridge

Sorry, my fault, not the media's. I forgot to change that from the AI auto text, it actually said, "7½ miles" in the original article.

[thomarse]

Ha ha, I wondered if it was perhaps 7.1 nm....

Anyone know anything more about Malcolm Cunninghame?

[davidd]

Cunninghame, rather an unusual variant of the more common spelling I think. Also noticed in the post from madmax that the company of Brown & Dureau Ltd (Aviation Division), located at Southern Cross Building, 22 - 24 Brandon St, Wellington, Wellington C.1 (from 1948 Whites Air Directory) has become a little bit mangled. They represented Lockheed in NZ, perhaps also other companies too?

[madmax]

They also represented Grumman in the 1960/70s

[planewriting]

Looking back through the notes here and starting on Dave's one from The Press the pilot's name is given as both Cunningham and Cunninghame. Next day, also in The Press, he was described as John Cunninghame. From the 1971 New Zealand Soaring Directory I confirm his name is recorded as Malcolm Cunninghame.

[oj]

Sept 23, 2024 13:27:37 GMT 12 madmax said:

They also represented Grumman in the 1960/70s

They may have for some aircraft, but for the modern Grumann AA1 & AA5 light aircraft and the twin Grumman Cougar, NZAIL in Hamilton were the NZ distributors during those years. I do not know of any association between NZAIL and Brown & Dureau at those times.

[madmax]

I knew Gil Aspin very well in the 1960/70s he had previously worked for the UK CAA and in NZ was employed by Brown & Dureau as their aviation representative. I recall learning from him about the pending arrival of AgCat ZK-CLQ which was assembled by East Aviation on Wellington airport and I have photographs of Gil showing the aircraft to a prospective buyer. A buyer was not forthcoming and was operated briefly on loan to Marshall & Neville Hastings

[Dave Homewood]

Have any glider pilots/passengers ever actually successfully jumped from a glider in an emergency and used their parachute in New Zealand?

[davidd]

I'm thinking of a glider being flown in competion at Omarama (maybe 30 - 40 years ago) which broke up in flight (pulled apart by rota), he baled out, believed to have landed OK but was killed by being dragged around by his parachute in strong winds and bashed by rocks. His name was Andy I think, was an engineer working with Air NZ at time, had a small Austin A35 car for transport (our tent was next to his, and his car!) It was a real shame that the parachute which saved him, was then instrumental in killing him. At least that was what we were told at the time. They found one of the wings from his glider on opposite side of hills from rest of wreckage. A very sad occasion indeed. As to whether this "helps" with your question Dave, hard to say. Did Fred Dunne (spelling?) use a parachute when his brand new Slingsby Dart got into trouble in about 1967 near Christchurch, he was killed of course.

[Dave Homewood]

Oh goodness! How awful. I wonder if the parachute did not have Capewells, which is the release mechanism on the risers that detach the canopy and collapse it so this does not happen. or perhaps he was unconscious and could not do anything about the chute dragging him.

[Dave Homewood]

Sept 25, 2024 9:39:13 GMT 12 davidd said:

I'm thinking of a glider being flown in competion at Omarama (maybe 30 - 40 years ago)

Would it have been this one, 51 years ago? From The Press, 3 January 1973

Missing pilot found dead

A Christchurch glider pilot, missing from Omarama since Sunday, was found dead yesterday morning near the remains of his crashed aircraft.

The man’s parachute was found with him and it is thought he might have tried to bale out after getting into difficulties in strong turbulence.

The pilot was Henry Andrew Aitken, aged 29, of 11A Kimberley Street. Papanui. He was married, with a five-month-old child.

Mr Aitken was an instructor with the Canterbury Gliding Club, and worked as an aircraft engineer with N.A.C. He had been flying for about 10 years.

Mr Aitken's severely mutilated body was found soon after 8 a.m. by the pilot of a gliding club tow-plane searching the area with two R.N.Z.A.F. Devons. The body was lying at 6000 ft on a slope of a tight, steep gully in the St Bathans Range, 17 miles south of Omarama.

BALED OUT?
The distance the pilot’s body was found from the crash, and the scattered nature of the wreckage, suggested that Mr Aitken baled out and the glider hit the gully out of control.

The wreck was located by a Piper Cub piloted by Mr Gavin Wills, of Mount Cook. Three glider tow-planes had been searching since 4 p.m. on Sunday and yesterday were joined by two R.N.Z.A.F. Devons. A doctor on board a searching Air Force helicopter which landed near the  crash scene flashed a radio message back to the Omarama search headquarters at 11.10 a.m., confirming that the pilot was dead.

Mr Aitken had last been seen just after 10 a.m. on Sunday, when he set out to fly to Cromwell, to Tekapo and back to Omarama. He was the only one to attempt the trip, and soon after he took off gliding was suspended in the area because of strong low-level turbulence.

KNEW AREA WELL
The president of the Canterbury Glider Club (Mr I.W. Carr) said that Mr Aitken had flown in the area many times and knew it well. He said that the glider had been equipped with a radio but the contours of the surrounding land were such that radio reception from the region was particularly bad. Mr Aitken’s body was being flown to Christchurch.

[Dave Homewood]

And from The Press, 7 July 1973:

Inquest into glider death

(From Our Own Reporter) TIMARU.

A verdict that Henry Andrew Aitken, aged 29. an aircraft engineer, of Kimberley Street, Christchurch, died on a mountain near Omarama on December 31, 1972, from a fracture dislocation of the cervical spine suffered after parachuting from his glider was returned by the Timaru District Coroner (Mr E. G. Bradley) at an adjourned inquest at Timaru.

The coroner said it appeared that the cause of the accident was turbulent weather, which caused the pilot to abandon the glider. Unfortunately, the deceased was unable to release his parachute on landing, and probably died when swept against rocks.

Evidence had been given by Dr P. W. Law, of Twizel. who said that at 10.30a.m. on January 2 he left Twizel by helicopter for Omarama where, at 11.10 a.m., he found Mr Aitken’s body on a windswept slope. It was in a parachute harness, with parachute attached. The parachute had opened. In his opinion said the witness, death had been instantaneous.

Constable G. R. Keating, of Christchurch, said that Mr Aitken had left Omarama in his Skylark 3 glider at 7.30 a m. on December 31, his intention being to do a 200-mile round trip to Lake Tekapo and return.

“He was last heard from about 10.30 a.m. that day, by a radio message to Omarama. About 4 p m., the gliding authorities at Omarama advised the Twizel police that the aircraft was overdue.”

At 8 a.m. on January 2. aircraft wreckage and a body were seen on the mountainside. The body was rescued by a R.N.Z.A.F helicopter and taken to Wigram. Mr Aitken proposed travelling in a triangle from Omarama to Cromwell and Tekapo and back, for his Gold C badge.

[Dave Homewood]

Sept 25, 2024 9:39:13 GMT 12 davidd said:

Did Fred Dunne (spelling?) use a parachute when his brand new Slingsby Dart got into trouble in about 1967 near Christchurch, he was killed of course.

From The Press, 5 May 1966:

Killed In Glider Crash

A glider pilot was killed instantly when his aircraft crashed in an Eyre well State Forest clearing a few minutes after being released from tow on a test flight early yesterday afternoon. He was

FREDERICK MURRAY DUNN, aged 40, of 75 Balrudry street, Avonhead. Married, with two young children, Mr Dunn was managing director of Sailplane Services, Ltd., which recently built the glider.

The glider took off from Christchurch airport at 11.50 a.m. under tow by a Canterbury Gliding Club Piper Cub piloted by Mr Colin White, a Mount Cook Airlines pilot. Shortly before 12.10 p.m. the glider was released at an altitude of about 5000 ft after a tow speed of about 60 knots.

The Piper’s co-pilot reported a normal release to the airport control tower and gave other details of the planned test flight. It was then his intention to fly alongside the glider and take photographs, but he was unable to find it when he searched the air.

He then looked for an emergency landing and saw the glider in a forest clearing, and reported a landing to the tower.

Mr White brought the Piper down in a paddock near the forest. He then found that the glider had crashed.

Mr L. J. King, of Belfast, who was working near the forest weigh-bridge at the time of the crash, said last evening that he first noticed the glider when it was almost directly overhead. He did not see any other aircraft about, but heard two loud reports like shots or engine backfires. Mr King said he saw first one wing, then another, fold back against the fuselage of the glider until the aircraft looked like a Boeing 707 at a great height. It then went into a slow spin, gained speed as it plummeted towards the ground, and disappeared behind trees.

Small fragments of plastic or fabric continued to fall like confetti. He said that even at this stage he was under the impression that the glider was a large aircraft. When he reached the clearing behind the trees a few minutes later he found twisted wreckage of the glider. One wing was then at a normal angle to the fuselage, and half of the other was a few chains away. The cockpit canopy was open, and Mr Dunn’s body was about a chain and a half from the wreckage. His parachute pack was torn across the top, and some of the parachute and cords had been released.

The glider crashed in a 100 acre salvaged windthrow area of the forest covered with stumps and slash, about five chains east of Browns road and eight chains inside the forest.

It was a Slingsby Dart 17R built recently in Christchurch by Sailplane Services, Ltd., for a North Island customer. It was valued about £2400.

Mr S. H. Georgeson, of Christchurch, a member of the Canterbury Gliding Club, said last evening that the Slingsby Dart was a newly-assembled, high-performance glider. “It is a very special glider and is probably the most sophisticated in the country, and has a retractable undercarriage. There is only one other in New Zealand.”

“Complete Mystery”
Mr Georgeson said the accident was a complete mystery to him. As far as he knew the aircraft was intact when it hit the ground.

“Fred. Dunn’s workmanship was beyond reproach. Everything he did was superb,” Mr Georgeson said. “He was a foundation member of the Canterbury Gliding Club, and probably did more for gliding than any other person in New Zealand.”

Mr Georgeson said that if anything had gone wrong with the glider then Mr Dunn would have had plenty of opportunity to get out and parachute to the ground.

“Either he stayed with the glider too long or something happened to him,” he said. “There was ample height for him to get out, and if his canopy is found to have been jettisoned then I would have expected him to have got out.”

A police guard was placed over the wreckage last night, and today it will be examined by inspectors of the Department of Civil Aviation.