1961 Ruapehu crash findings questioned

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 2, Issue 17, 25 September 1984, Page 3

1961 Ruapehu crash findings questioned

Auckland solicitor, Russell Bartlett, son of Captain Alfred Bartlett who was killed on 21 November 1961 when his Bay of Plenty Airline Aero Commander crashed into Mount Ruapehu, believes the trouble over the accident should never have started. In an interview printed in the Sunday News, Mr Bartlett said the problems began when air accident inspectors did not accept eye witness accounts. "My family thinks the truth came out 23 years ago when eye witnesses said at inquests that they saw the plane disintegrate in midair." National Park businessman, Roy Turner, who went missing in the Southern Alps last year, told the inspectors at the time that he saw the plane flying about 3000 metres when there was an explosion, a wing flew off and the aircraft plunged into.

the snow on the Pinnacle Ridge next to the Whakapapa Skifield. But the 1 962 air inspector's report said the plane crashed because it was flying too low and hit the mountain. "It's always been a mystery to us that eye witnesses did not form part of the first report," Mr Bartlett said. "Roy Turner was an experienced mountain person and a pilot but for some reason he wasn't taken any notice of. Perhaps it was easier to blame the pilot." Mr Bartlett added that the trouble really began when his family were not shown a copy of the report prior to its public release. "If the proper procedure had been followed, the family might have had time to get submissions prepared and the whole thing might have been avoided," he said.

Professor Les Erasmus, head of Canterbury University's mechanical engineering department, was brought in by the Bartlett family in 1970 to further investigate on their behalf. He disputed claims made in the original report and was successful in getting the report rewritten in 1972. When the report was rereleased this year, it conceded several points. A leading expert on metal fatigue said no matter who flew the plane, it would have crashed because of a crack in its wing. In addition to Captain Bartlett, there were five passengers who perished in the accident. Neither Mr Bartlett nor Professor Erasmus are satsifed that Captain Bartlett 's name has been cleared as the Air Accidents Department has still not withdrawn its original report.