This Site is dedicated to all those families of the people that have tragically disappeared on flights in and around New Zealand. I only hope that from all the effort in building this site and from all the effort of those taking part in this venture, that it will bear fruit in bringing ‘closure’ to their memories!
Gavin Grimmer
Gavin Grimmer
There is even another explanation to this and that is that Kevin could have been getting mixed up with the days, in that Father Crosbie flew two flights from Big Bay to the Hollyford strip (and back to Big Bay) transporting venison that they had shot, the day before they disappeared.
The 30 minutes between the time he heard the plane go south to the time of it coming back, suits the time period perfectly for a drop off and return from the Hollyford Strip.
Father Crosbie had also done two flights on that same day from Big Bay to the Upper Pyke airstrip dropping his mates off and picking them up again, and in one of the statements given, the picking up of his mates at the Upper Pyke coincided with one of the trips to the Hollyford Strip, so it is very obvious that the Pyke River was the course that was being used that day.
2B/ Kevin then says he heard the plane for a further 20 minutes after it had flown back north past his position.
This would mean that BMP had traveled 43 n.miles in the time frame of 20 minutes, and although the argument might be that they were simply circling in the valley, in other accounts in these files, Kevin claims that he watched the plane until it turned in about the area of the Forgotten River Valley? (presume he means the Olivine River Valley), yet that would place BMP at over 7 n.miles away (only a little over 3 minutes flying time) and although he would have still been able to hear her - especially as there was a northerly wind blowing, I do however doubt whether he could have seen her - unless he had binoculars. He also claimed in other files, that the visibility was only about 5 miles.
Another explanation to the plane he saw flying north again after about 30 minutes, could be that they were both different aeroplanes – one flying south and then 30 minutes later, another one flying north - After all, that route is quite a popular way through the mountains….. Maybe one of them was Jules?
The inference is that the plane was flying very low in bad weather, ("could have thrown an axe into the cockpit") yet Kevin was on a ridge 1000 ft above the Alabaster Hut (says so in the quoted handwritten notes earlier in this article [above Alabaster Hut mentioned in another file] ).
The plane may have been close to the hills where Kevin was, but it was still flying 1000 ft above the valley floor. When you think about it, the cloud base could not have been down on the deck as it must have been higher than the 1000 ft where Kevin was. The inference that BMP was trapped in the valley by cloud doesn't stack up, especially when Kevin said he watched it until it was up around the Forgotten River Valley.
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Jamestown Observation
Strangely, there is no mention anywhere in the files of who the person was who heard a plane at Jamestown, although I would say that what they heard was probably Father Crosbie returning back towards Big Bay over the Jamestown area towards Jamestown Saddle, on his first flight that day.
For Father Crosbie to have been able to see that there were actually two layers of cloud, in my mind, means that he climbed towards the south just out from the coast where the weather was clearer. He had managed to climb to 6000 ft so that had to be in an area where the cloud base was quite high.
In a straight out climb to the south up to 6000 ft calculates that he would have been in the Kaipo Bay area when he reached that height. From a height of 6000 ft, it takes quite a while to get back down and he would have covered quite a few miles.
The 30 minutes between the time he heard the plane go south to the time of it coming back, suits the time period perfectly for a drop off and return from the Hollyford Strip.
Father Crosbie had also done two flights on that same day from Big Bay to the Upper Pyke airstrip dropping his mates off and picking them up again, and in one of the statements given, the picking up of his mates at the Upper Pyke coincided with one of the trips to the Hollyford Strip, so it is very obvious that the Pyke River was the course that was being used that day.
2B/ Kevin then says he heard the plane for a further 20 minutes after it had flown back north past his position.
This would mean that BMP had traveled 43 n.miles in the time frame of 20 minutes, and although the argument might be that they were simply circling in the valley, in other accounts in these files, Kevin claims that he watched the plane until it turned in about the area of the Forgotten River Valley? (presume he means the Olivine River Valley), yet that would place BMP at over 7 n.miles away (only a little over 3 minutes flying time) and although he would have still been able to hear her - especially as there was a northerly wind blowing, I do however doubt whether he could have seen her - unless he had binoculars. He also claimed in other files, that the visibility was only about 5 miles.
Another explanation to the plane he saw flying north again after about 30 minutes, could be that they were both different aeroplanes – one flying south and then 30 minutes later, another one flying north - After all, that route is quite a popular way through the mountains….. Maybe one of them was Jules?
The inference is that the plane was flying very low in bad weather, ("could have thrown an axe into the cockpit") yet Kevin was on a ridge 1000 ft above the Alabaster Hut (says so in the quoted handwritten notes earlier in this article [above Alabaster Hut mentioned in another file] ).
The plane may have been close to the hills where Kevin was, but it was still flying 1000 ft above the valley floor. When you think about it, the cloud base could not have been down on the deck as it must have been higher than the 1000 ft where Kevin was. The inference that BMP was trapped in the valley by cloud doesn't stack up, especially when Kevin said he watched it until it was up around the Forgotten River Valley.
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Jamestown Observation
Strangely, there is no mention anywhere in the files of who the person was who heard a plane at Jamestown, although I would say that what they heard was probably Father Crosbie returning back towards Big Bay over the Jamestown area towards Jamestown Saddle, on his first flight that day.
For Father Crosbie to have been able to see that there were actually two layers of cloud, in my mind, means that he climbed towards the south just out from the coast where the weather was clearer. He had managed to climb to 6000 ft so that had to be in an area where the cloud base was quite high.
In a straight out climb to the south up to 6000 ft calculates that he would have been in the Kaipo Bay area when he reached that height. From a height of 6000 ft, it takes quite a while to get back down and he would have covered quite a few miles.
