Had it not been for a passenger who managed to pull him back in, then it unlikely accounting firm PKF Dunedin would be celebrating 100 years of business in the city this year.
The incident had quite an effect on Mr Mitson, who never flew again and got the shakes every time he drove the big hills in the city.
It was August 31, 1925, when the sociable and outgoing accountant left his role at another Dunedin company, met his newborn daughter Betty and opened the door to his own firm W.A. Mitson, Accountant.
The firm has gone through various name changes over the years and is now part of PKF, which has 214 firms in 150 countries, including 19 locations from Northland to Otago.
In April, it merged with Flannery Tait in Central Otago to form PKF Alexandra, with George Flannery joining Ben McCormack, Howard Tilbury and Alison Glover — the firm’s first female director — as directors.
The centennial was marked last month with a small 1920s-themed client function at Toitū Otago Settlers Museum. Part of recognising the history was trying to build the firm to what it needed to be successful in the future, Mr Tilbury said.
The directors were very aware of the stereotype image of an accountant. When asked what she did for a job, Ms Glover used to say she was a florist, otherwise people either wanted advice "or did not want to know you".
That perception was discussed at a recent Australia-New Zealand PKF conference and it was suggested that those in the industry needed to start saying very proudly that they were an accountant, Mr Tilbury said.
Besides, who said accountants were boring? At PKF Dunedin, there are accomplished car rallyers, pickleballers, go-karters, rugby referees and cricketers among the team, he said.
At the recent Christmas function in Cromwell, go-karting was the chosen activity, which was a bonus for Rachel Chadwick, from the Dunedin office, who is a national karting champion and was an easy winner.
While Ms Glover is a rally driver, she was not from a karting background and rued that she was lapped multiple times despite having her foot flat.
"We want . . . people that actually have a life outside work. We don’t expect people to sit here all day and all weekend working. That’s part of that whole well-rounded personality," Mr Tilbury said.
Several years ago, the firm moved to four-and-a-half-day weeks, with everyone knocking off at 12.30pm each Friday, which had worked well.
While numbers were a core fundamental of accounting, it was the people side that appealed to Mr McCormack, who was described as the "big picture" thinker in the office, always looking at new trends.
Asked what the biggest challenges in an accounting firm were, Mr McCormack said it was keeping up with change. He believed changes in technology would really disrupt accounting in the next few years.
Ms Glover said that while technology could do the core basics of accounting, firms like PKF Dunedin wanted to continue to work with their clients. Relationships really mattered and the future was looking exciting.
Engagement manager Lynda Marnie said accounting firms had more insights into clients’ lives than any other professionals.
"We see the good, the bad and the ugly — and we really care. It’s way more than a byline," she said.
She described her colleagues as an "eclectic bunch" who had all walked diverse paths to get there and they had a healthy respect for each other.
"It’s nice we’re all different," she said.
