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No 129 : July 24, 1971

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Tragic Air Crash

Wednesday, June 30, 1971, will go down as a black day in the history of the Nelson Aero Club. For it was on that day that the club lost a promising instructor, Tony King, 19, and a student pilot, Stuart Angus, 18.

Shortly before 10 a.m. on that brilliantly fine day permission to land was given to the Piper Cub Zk-Bto. It never did.

What happened as the Cub made its landing approach will probably never be known.

The two young men perished as the small aircraft plunged into the Blind Channel off Tahuna Beach. Its speed would have been about 80mph if it was preparing for a normal landing. Stuart Angus was found in the shattered remains of the aeroplane by a rescue crew. Tony King's body was found nine days later by an aircraft, not far from the scene of the crash. A helicopter was used to recover the body

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An aeroplane from the Nelson Aero Club swoops over the scene of the crash. The tailplane of the wrecked Cub can be seen to the right of the Nelson Airport's rescue craft. A pilot launch stands by

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Members of the airport rescue crew confer with harbour board skindiver, Phil Stanger, at the scene of the crash. Only the tailplane, which the men are hanging on to, and one wheel protrude from the water

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The shattered remains of the Cub's tailplane. The aircraft was removed from the Blind Channel by a dredge and loaded on a pilot launch. It was unloaded at a wharf at Port Nelson and then transported by truck to a hangar at the airport

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This section of the fuselage is almost unrecognisable

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Jim Crapper of the Nelson Harbour Board has a hard time separating pieces of wreckage as the plane is lifted on to the wharf. A crumpled propeller, smashed engine and shattered wheel assembly testify to the force of impact

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A member of the Civil Aviation fire crew, Fred Street, left, has a cut foot attended to. He cut his foot on a bit of debris at the crash site

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Harbour board skindiver Phil Stanger, right, searched for about an hour but could not find the body of pilot instructor Tony King

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