H—3s

TJie Board regret to report three fatal accidents during the year under review, resulting in thirty deaths of passengers and crew. These accidents were : Douglas freighter ZK-AOE, 9th August, 1948, crashed on Scraggy Eidge, Point Underwood, with loss of two crew. The finding of the Board of Inquiry was that the aircraft entered cloud, contrary to visual flight regulations, and was flown at insufficient altitude to clear terrain. Lockheed Electra ZK-AGK, 23rd October, 1948, crashed on Mount Ruapehu, with the loss of two crew and eleven passengers. The Board of Inquiry found that the aircraft was flown on an erroneous course through error in navigation. Lockheed Lodestar ZK-AKX, 18th March, 1949, crashed at Waikanae, with the loss of two crew and thirteen passengers. The recommendation of the Board of Inquiry was as follows : " The captain's election to go V.F.R. was a fundamental error of judgment from which flowed cumulative errors terminating in a critical situation from which the aircraft could not be extricated."

STATISTICS

9

— Year Ended 31st March, 1947. Year Ended 31st March, 1948. Year Ended 31st March, 1949. Percentage Increase on Last Year. Route mileage— New Zealand internal 1,918 2,201 2,580 17-22 Pacific 5,273 5,273 Daily scheduled mileage— New Zealand internal 7,044 11,509 15,023 30-53 Pacific (average) 1,146 1,146 Mileage flown — (a) Revenue— New Zealand internal 1,407,583 3,116,124 4,298,922 23-8 Pacific 133,046 412,442 210-0 (6) Non-revenue, including training 107,474 288,013 419,297 Passengers carried : Revenue — New Zealand internal 80,807 147,253 174,836 18-73 Pacific 1,831 6,390 249-00 Passenger-miles : Created— . New Zealand internal 16,019,896 40,681,963 55,690,283 36-89 Pacific .. 2,294,176 7,237,822 215-49 Passenger-miles : Revenue— New Zealand internal 14,764,385 33,808,603 44,323,199 31-1 Pacific 1,499,509 5,341,620 256-2 Average passenger journey (miles) — New Zealand internal .. 179 225 253 Pacific .. .. 819 836 Freight and mail (lb.) — New Zealand internal .. 965,265 1,809,118 2,593,087 43-3 Pacific .. .. .. | ■ 28,463 89,380 ■ 214-02 Freight (ton-miles) — New Zealand internal 38,877 91,569 319,170 248-5 Pacific 8,998 21,691 141-06 Mail (ton-miles) — New Zealand internal .; 71,178 97,310 108,580 11-58' Pacific 5,866 15,599 165-G Load factor — New Zealand internal 76-75 70-85 67-48 Pacific 65-85 67-90 Note.—Pacific service operated five months onfy in year ended 31st March , 1948.