Author(s): Richard Waugh

Aircraft

New Zealand's worst internal air disaster. Flight 441 from Auckland to Tauranga on 3 July 1963 began as a typical National Airways Corporation DC-3 flight of the era. The passengers represented a cross-section of New Zealand society: men and women, Maori and Pakeha, young and old. They were travelling on business, on holiday or to attend family events. The tragic crash of DC-3 ZK-AYZ into the Kaimai Range and the death of all three crew and 20 passengers was a profound shock to the prosperity and optimism of a growing nation.