Disappearance of Moncrieff and Hood

John Moncrieff and George Hood, both New Zealand aviators and First World War veterans, set out to complete the first flight across the Tasman Sea from Australia to New Zealand. Moncrieff, born in Lerwick, Scotland, emigrated to New Zealand as a teenager and trained as a pilot with the Canterbury (NZ) Aviation Company. Hood, born in Masterton, served with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and the Royal Flying Corps before losing part of his leg in a 1917 flying accident, but he continued to fly afterward.

Moncrieff had long wanted to attempt a trans-Tasman flight, and after a string of high-profile ocean crossings in 1927 — including Charles Lindbergh's transatlantic flight — he revived the plan with backing from an uncle and the organisational help of barrister and pilot Ivan Kight. The team ordered a Ryan B-1 Brougham monoplane, similar to Lindbergh's aircraft, which was modified with extra fuel capacity and named Aotearoa. It was registered G-AUNZ and assembled at Point Cook, Melbourne, before being flown to Richmond, near Sydney, for final preparation. Australian aviation authorities initially objected to a landplane making the crossing, but the restriction was lifted on 3 January 1928 after negotiations between the Australian and New Zealand governments.

Moncrieff was the designated pilot, and Hood won a coin toss against Kight to become the second crew member. The Aotearoa departed Richmond at 02:44 Sydney time (05:14 NZ time) on 10 January 1928, delayed by a minor oil issue and press interviews. Shortly afterward, the officer of the watch aboard the steamer Maunganui reported hearing an aircraft engine consistent with the Aotearoa's expected course. Because of limited navigation equipment and Morse code proficiency, radio contact was intermittent throughout the flight. By early evening, an estimated 10,000 people had gathered at Trentham Racecourse, the intended landing site, including the aviators' wives.

At 17:22 NZ time, after roughly 12 hours in the air and while the aircraft should have been within about 200 miles of the New Zealand coast, radio signals from the Aotearoa stopped abruptly. Despite searchlights and rockets used through the night, the plane never arrived, and Moncrieff, Hood, and the Aotearoa were never seen again. Numerous reported sightings came in over the following hours, some suggesting the aircraft may have drifted north of its intended path near Taranaki, but none were confirmed.

Air, sea, and land searches began the next day and continued intermittently for decades, with particular focus on the Marlborough Sounds' Mount Stokes area based on purported sightings. A 1960s report of possible wreckage near Tōtaranui, in what is now Abel Tasman National Park, prompted a full search in 2013, which found nothing. No wreckage or remains have ever been recovered. The Masterton aerodrome was renamed Hood Aerodrome in 1931 in memory of the aviators, and streets across New Zealand bear their names. The first successful trans-Tasman flight was completed later that year, in September 1928, by Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm.