The scene at Ardmore airport, Auckland, on Thursday after
the 1943 Supermarine Spitfire Mk IX crashed. Photo by NZPA.
Expectations of a rare dual appearance by New Zealand's
only two Spitfire fighter planes at Warbirds Over Wanaka, next
Easter, have nose-dived after one of the aircraft crashed on
Thursday.
Pilot Doug Brooker walked away unhurt from the crash at
Ardmore Airport in Auckland, when his 1943 Supermarine
Spitfire Mk IX bounced during a routine landing, slid 50m on
its belly and finished up nose down, with its propeller
broken, wheels buckled, and wings damaged.
The Spitfire's crash came two weeks after the aircraft was
deemed flightworthy, following repairs from a previous crash
in January, NZPA reported.
Warbirds Over Wanaka event manager Mandy Deans said she had
been in contact with Mr Brooker by email and that the
Auckland businessman was "OK but shaken", after the crash.
Warbirds Over Wanaka organisers hoped the Supermarine
Spitfire - estimated to be worth more than $3 million and one
of only five left flying in the world - would be repaired for
the Easter airshow.
"We think it will be fixed by February or March and we have
our fingers crossed.
"Time will tell, though," Ms Deans said.
Mr Brooker's crash landing has wrecked plans for an
appearance by New Zealand's two Spitfires at the Warbirds
Over Wairarapa airshow in January.
It was the Auckland pilot's second crash landing in the
Spitfire, after he also damaged the plane after a flight at
Hood Aerodrome, near Masterton, in January.
A semi-retired computer company developer, Mr Brooker was an
aerial aerobatics champion in 2006.
The Spitfire was scheduled to appear at the Warbirds Over
Wanaka 2007 airshow, but was impounded by customs officials,
last February, when Mr Brooker tried to import the plane from
the United States.
It eventually arrived in New Zealand in September.
The other Spitfire, planned to feature at next Easter's
Wanaka airshow and owned by the family of New Zealand fighter
pilot Alan Deere who served with the Royal Air Force, was
still scheduled to appear, Ms Deans said.
There was no contingency plan to replace Mr Brooker's
Spitfire with another vintage aircraft at Warbirds Over
Wanaka, should it not be fixed in time, she said.
The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating Thursday's
Spitfire crash-landing.
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