Historic Air New Zealand DC-8 to be shipped home from Amazon after 25 years

A Douglas DC-8 that has sat stranded in Manaus, Brazil, for nearly a quarter-century is finally headed back to New Zealand. Dismantling of the aircraft, originally registered ZK-NZC, begins September 1, and it will travel home by sea, according to the group organizing the effort.

That group is Bring Our Birds Home, an organization dedicated to repatriating historic New Zealand aircraft. It aims to have the DC-8 back in the country by the end of 2026, where it will be housed at the National Transport and Toy Museum in Wānaka.

Douglas built the aircraft in Long Beach, California. It joined Tasman Empire Airways, Air New Zealand's predecessor, in September 1965, and helped the carrier expand its network to the United States and Asia during the early jet age.

Notable passengers flew aboard it over the years. On January 30, 1974, it carried Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Anne, and Mark Phillips from Rarotonga to Christchurch, ahead of the Queen's attendance at the British Commonwealth Games.

After its Air New Zealand years, the DC-8 changed hands multiple times and was at one point registered in Colombia. It later suffered a hard landing in Brazil, after which it remained grounded and is no longer airworthy. It has stood in Manaus ever since, exposed to the Amazon region's humid, hot climate.

For the New Zealand enthusiasts behind the repatriation effort, the aircraft is a piece of national aviation history, not simply a decommissioned freighter.