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Crash
Ridge
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A
tramp with a view and a glimpse of a tragic
moment in New Zealand's aviation history.
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Look west from just about anywhere around
Tauranga and the horizon is dominated
by Crash Ridge. You're heading straight
for it's northern end, called Ngtamahinerua,
as you drive down Hewletts Road, shown
in the picture on the right.
In 1963 it was the site of New Zealand's
worst internal air disaster when Flight
44, a DC3 from Auckland, blown off course
by a strong easterly storm, smashed into
a cliff just below the top, instantly
killing all 23 people on board.
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The climb up the ridge
is a challenge but well within the capability
of an experienced tramper when the weather
is fine. But on a bad day it's nasty.
The ridge is 850m high and steep. It magnifies
a breeeze into a gale and it catches all
the passing rain. On the day of the crash,
3rd July 1963, the strong easterly winds
were shaped into a steep wave by the ridge
and an extremely strong downdraft was
cited as the main cause of the accident
by the court of enquiry.
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The cliff in the picture on the right
is the point of impact. Thick storm
clouds obscured the entire Bay and the
DC3 had been blown off course so that
it was on the west of the Kaimais when
the pilot thought he was to the east.
As he turned towards Tauranga airport
the downdraft pushed the aircraft down
300 metres. The pilot applied full throttle
but was unable to gain height before
smashing into the cliff which he may
never have seen.
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The forty years since the crash have
completely erased any sign of the tradgedy
from the cliffs, but someone long ago
placed a beautifully simple memorial
in the ground at the point where most
of the wreckage came to rest below it.
As we pondered ruggedness of the scene
we realised why it took two days for
searchers to find the missing plane
back in 1963 in the days when helicopters
were still a novelty.
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Many pieces of the ill-fated DC3, such
as the manifold in the picture on the
right are still scattered about, mainly
in a ravine below the site. It seems
like an ongoing catastrophe that these
pieces history remain as a rubble in
a creek.
Unfortunately, in the period after
the crash, the site was not respected
by souvenir hunters and the army was
sent in to blast some of the cliff down
onto the wreakage to try and bury it.
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Up on top of the ridge, the views are
spectacular. This is the view to the
west. The Matamata plain stretches out
into the distance behind vegetation
that is adapted to the strong winds
that frequently whistle up the extremely
steep western face of the ridge.
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Slips are common and erosion
is rapid despite the relatively good bush
cover. When slopes are steep they just
struggle to cling onto the underlying
andesite. Sometimes the slips make it
easier to find your way around. It this
shot we're heading down into the ravine
below the point of impact. This slip is
large enough to be visible from Gordon
if you look carefully.
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Down at Gordon, on the Old Te Aroha
Road, there is now a fitting memorial
to commerate what still remains the
worst air crash within New Zealand.
After coming down from our walk on the
Ridge, we paused here to pay our respects
to the victims and consider how lucky
we were to have enjoyed an excursion
into this rugged part of the beautiful
but unforgiving Kaimai Ranges.
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