Incident Overview
On a charter flight from Milford Sound to Queenstown, two Cessna 207 Skywagon aircraft collided while cruising over the Milford Sound area. The aircraft were operated by Air Fiordland (registration ZK-DQF) and Milford Sound Scenic Flights (registration ZK-DAX). Both were carrying Japanese tourists. ZK-DQF had six passengers and one pilot; ZK-DAX carried four passengers and one pilot.
Collision and Aftermath
Following the collision, ZK-DQF entered a dive and crashed, resulting in the deaths of all seven occupants. The pilot of ZK-DAX was able to perform an emergency landing, and all five people on board were rescued. However, both aircraft were destroyed in the incident.
Probable Cause
The official investigation determined that the mid-air collision occurred because neither pilot saw the other aircraft in time. Contributing factors included restricted cockpit vision for the pilots, a lack of pilot awareness to maintain an effective look-out, the unnecessarily high density of traffic in the area, and the unplanned merging of two streams of aircraft after a weather deterioration necessitated a change in route after departure.