Aircraft Was Reportedly Carrying Mail
REAL TIME UPDATE 1707 EDT -- A Fairchild Metroliner
carrying mail from Auckland, New Zealand to Blenheim apparently
exploded in flight Tuesday night, killing both pilots on board.
Search crews swarmed toward the crash site at approximately 2015
local time after scores of callers flooded emergency dispatchers
with reports of loud explosions and brilliant balls of
fire.
Police in the town of Stratford said they'd received
more than 20 calls from people reporting "a ball of fire in the
sky" and "a ball of fire on the ground."
One woman told New Zealand Radio she heard "screaming up
the road" from people saying there had been "an almighty
explosion." She went outside and saw "a great big ball of fire in
the sky above the house, sort of. You could see pieces falling.
Something's exploded in the sky."
"So at some stage," Police Inspector Tom Ireland told
New Zealand Radio, "there has been a fire, whether it's been
in the air, and a break-up has occurred in the air, or on the
ground, that's for the air crash investigators to
determine."
Recovery teams reached the crash site at about 0030 and
almost immediately found the debris field. They were able to locate
the nose of the aircraft, including the cockpit, where they found
the bodies of the two crew members.
"In this case the plane's come down from over 20,000
feet," Ireland said, "so the impact's been quite substantial
and there will of course be debris spread over quite a wide...
field."
Although the weather at the time of the mishap and
during the search was rainy and windy, Ireland said search crews
had little trouble reaching the site. "It was just a matter of
locating exactly where the aircraft had come to rest, in the major
pieces. Being in rural farmland, of course, we were very, very
lucky that there were no injuries on the ground."
The aircraft, reportedly operated by Airwork, was
carrying express mail for New Zealand Post and DHL, according to
radio reports.
REAL TIME UPDATE 0900 EDT -- A cargo aircraft, type unknown, has
apparently exploded over New Zealand. Radio New Zealand reports
there were two crew members on board.
The aircraft disappeared from radar about 210 miles northwest of
Wellington, according to radio reports. At about the same time,
emergency dispatchers were overwhelmed by reports of a brilliant
fireball in the sky near the town of Stratford.
Police in the Stratford area are appealing for residents to
remain calm and to stay indoors so roads can be used for emergency
traffic.
The aircraft was reportedly carrying mail for the New Zealand
postal service, on a run between Auckland and Wellington.