Wellington Airport 1959 - Three Near Tragedies [DVD]

Exactly sixty years ago New Zealand film-maker Paul Davidson was a 14 year old kid standing in a huge crowd beside Wellington Airport's runway. It was the great Capital Air Show celebrating the official opening of the new airport, and Paul will never forget the heart-stopping moment when a giant delta-wing Vulcan bomber almost crashed right in front of him.

There were other near-misses in the gale-force northerly winds of that day, most notably when a Sunderland flying boat making a low pass actually hit the runway, punched a hole in its keel and almost sunk on its return to base.

But what has never previously been revealed is that there was almost another disaster when the Vampire aerobatic team ran into cloud - and nearly the ground - on their last act of the day.

Paul has now tracked down the crew of these aircraft, who have given first-hand accounts of their dramatic experiences on that day. He has combined their stories with actual footage of the event and created an intriguing short film which brings that momentous day back to the present.

"I will never forget that day" says Paul "and after talking to the pilots I know they never will either." Sunderland co-pilot Robin Klitscher went on to fly helicopters in Vietnam and become a highly decorated Air Vice Marshall, while Vampire pilot Tom Enright flew almost every type of passenger jet all over the world. Both are now well retired, but Tom certainly says luck was on their side that day, and Robin ruefully reflects on his logbook entry for the day - a "touch and go" for his flying boat.

This film was released on Friday, 25th October 2019, exactly sixty years since that remarkable day at Wellington Airport - Labour Weekend, 25th of October 1959. 

Please Note: The original documentary on this DVD is exactly the same as the film released on YouTube, which you can watch by clicking the link in the header above.  

However the disk DOES feature an additional 75 minutes worth of material, including full length interviews with some of the participants, and additional bonus Vampire and Vulcan jet footage filmed by the Historical Aviation Film Unit in recent years.