On 4 September 2010, a modified Fletcher FU-24 aeroplane on a parachuting flight from Fox Glacier Aerodrome, New Zealand, crashed shortly after take-off, killing all nine people on board.

[2]: 2  After being purchased by Skydive New Zealand in early 2010, the aircraft was further modified to carry out parachuting operations and re-entered service in this configuration in July, two months before the accident.

[2]: 2–3 [8] A week after the crash, on 11 September the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) issued an emergency airworthiness directive (AD), applicable to all FU-24s engaged in parachuting operations.

[9] The AD limits the number of people that can be carried in the rear of the aircraft; and requires accurate determination of passenger weights and of the CofG.

[12]: 17  It also said that the extreme pitch angle made it improbable that the unrestrained sky divers could have prevented themselves from sliding back to the tail of the aircraft, increasing the weight balance issues.

[10] The commission assigned the blame for the crash to the pilot, the company that operated the plane, the firm that modified the aircraft into a skydiving configuration, and the Civil Aviation Authority.

[13] A Fletcher test pilot and an engineer provided expert testimony at the inquest that raised doubts about the conclusions reached in the TAIC's final report.

[14] The coroner's report felt that it was unlikely that there was any load shift in the aircraft, and that although weight and balance issues may have contributed to the accident, it was likely that some other unknown factor caused the crash.

[15] Among other flaws, the reporting was critical of the fact that the wreckage of the aircraft had been buried on the orders of the TAIC before key components, including the control stick and cables, could be examined by investigators.

[19]: 2  MP Phil Twyford said the report revealed "appalling incompetence" on the part of the TAIC, saying, "This is unbelievable mickey-mouse conduct by an agency that's charged with investigating some of our most serious transport accidents".