Sqn Ldr Nick Cree died in the crash of one of the Red Checkers’ CT-4 Airtrainers.
The Court of Inquiry findings on the air accident that took Sqn Ldr Nick Cree’s life on 14 January last year was delivered by the RNZAF on 18 October. The RNZAF completed its investigation into the CT-4 Airtrainer accident that occurred during a Red Checkers formation aerobatic display practice.
The display team was practising near Ohakea Air Force Base when the aircraft crashed during a routine manoeuvre and Sqn Ldr Cree was killed. The RNZAF said, “Sqn Ldr Cree was an experienced pilot and was highly regarded by those at the Central Flying School and within the wider Air Force. He was also a previous winner of the Lawson trophy for low-level aerobatics on his flying instructor’s course.”
The Court of Inquiry found that Sqn Ldr Cree had flown the Fishtail Pass using an unstable technique. A Fishtail Pass is a manoeuvre flown at slow speed, where the pilot moves the tail of the aircraft left and right with rudder while keeping the wings level. On the day of the accident the aircraft suffered a sudden loss of lift and rapid roll to the left. As the pilot was flying low at the time, there was insufficient height to recover and the Airtrainer crashed.
Several factors were identified that contributed to the accident, including orders and procedures relating to the supervision and conduct of display flying that were not adequate to ensure appropriate training, work-up, conduct, supervision, and oversight of the Red Checkers aerobatic team, in particular for the Fishtail Pass.
The Standard Operating Procedures also had not been formally published for the Red Checkers, and the draft document did not provide sufficient guidance on the appropriate techniques to be used in flying the Fishtail Pass. Training was not provided to ensure that the manoeuvre was flown appropriately and safely, and the pilot developed and used an unstable and dangerous technique to fly it.
The Inquiry said Sqn Ldr Cree accepted frequent minor departures from controlled flight without reporting them to, or discussing them with, flying supervisors, experienced flying instructors or other team members. It made a number of recommendations aimed at preventing a reoccurrence of that type of accident, including a review of the orders and instructions for the training, supervision and conduct of flying displays and practices in the RNZAF.
The RNZAF has accepted all the COI recommendations and has acted upon them. A spokesman said, “We have introduced a new Wing at Ohakea — 488 Wing — which was established in December 2010. 488 Wing will command and supervise Ohakea-based flying operations. The Red Checkers are flying again and we have improved our processes to help ensure safe formation aerobatic and display flying.”
- Report by John King