Kotere memorial, Mangere

On 10 May 1938, Union Airways Lockheed 10 Electra ZK-AFC Kotare crashed shortly after taking off for Palmerston North from the Mangere Aerodrome. Both members of the crew, the pilot, Commander C.M. Duthie, and the second officer, W.J. Peel, died (there were no passengers on board). This was the first fatal accident to occur on a scheduled air service in New Zealand.

On 10 May 2004, a commemorative service was held unveiling a memorial to the victims on the corner of John Goulter Drive and Ansett Place, Auckland International Airport.

Sources: Electra Flying: The Lockheed 10 Electra in New Zealand and the Pioneering of the Main Trunk Air Service, ed. Richard J. Waugh, Manukau City, 1998, pp. 24-51 [esp. pp. 33-4]; 'Honouring crash pilots', Aucklander East, 28/4/2004, p. 7; 'Pioneering incident remembered', Airport Times, no. 31, June 2004, p. 4.