Plane hunter zeroes in on decaying jet
Paul Brennan is standing in front of a decaying aircraft that crashlanded 17 years ago in Brazil. His eyes are teary as he explains the relief of seeing this piece of New Zealand history for the first time.
‘‘Now we have to set about recovering it,’’ he says with the kind of heaviness that knows of the challenge ahead.
Brennan heads the Bring Our Birds Home trust, which is spearheading an effort to repatriate six historic New Zealand aircraft that are now scattered around the world. The aircraft all initially flew for Kiwi airlines before being sold offshore. They now sit in various state of decay.
One of the aircraft is the last remaining Air New Zealand 747, which is parked in Spain after being sold to a European operator in 2014. After Covid-19 delivered a king-hit to the aviation sector, the 747 is about to be sent to an aircraft scrapyard. The trust is in a race against time to raise funds to bring it back, and potentially turn it into a hotel in Wa¯naka.
But in 2019, it was another of Air New Zealand’s old aircraft that had Brennan’s full attention. This story goes back to 1965, when a glistening DC-8 was delivered to Tasman Empire Airways, which would later become Air New Zealand. The jet aircraft was a gamechanger, allowing Air New Zealand to travel to the US and Asia.
At the time it was considered a glamour airliner, ushering in an exciting new era of travel – able to take up to 129 passengers at much faster speeds than the turboprop aircraft it replaced.
Since its sale from Air New Zealand in the 1980s, it flew in the United States, Canada and was even registered in Colombia, before being impounded by the US Drug Enforcement Agency. Some argue it was involved in drug running – although official records are hard to come by.
Brennan says the plane last flew for a cargo airline in Brazil. In 2003, it took off from Brazil’s Manaus Airport, suffered an engine failure and crashed while trying to land.
It has taken more than a decade, but Brennan and the owner have agreed on a purchase price of around $20,000.
The plan is to bring the airliner back to New Zealand, along with the five other planes, for display at the National Transport and Toy Museum in Wa¯naka.