Kiwi West Aviation

Beechcraft 80 Queen Air

The aircraft departed Hamilton Airport runway 36 on a scheduled service to New Plymouth on behalf of Eagle Airways. Six minutes after takeoff, while climbing to an altitude of 5,000 feet, the crew informed ATC about the failure of the left engine and was cleared to return for an emergency landing. Four minutes later, the right turn failed as well. The airplane lost height and crashed in an open field located 9 km from Hamilton Airport. All six occupants were killed.