Submitted by admin on April 22, 2009 - 21:15
“Dragonfly” Disappearance, 1962
At 9.52 a.m. on 12 February 1962, a 26-year-old “Dragonfly” aircraft belonging to Air Charter (New Zealand) Ltd. left Christchurch for a scenic flight over the Milford Sound—Fiordland area, where weather conditions were uncertain. Besides the pilot the aircraft was carrying four passengers, including a young newly married couple. No trace of the plane or its occupants has ever been found. During the search 34 planes flew nearly 400 hours in 167 sorties and covered an area of 17,000 sq. miles.
Although no cause for the disappearance could be established, the official inquiry drew attention to shortcomings in the plane's maintenance and, also, to its being overloaded.