NZ Civil Aircraft: What ever happened to the first ZK-NEQ ?

Sunday 11 February 2024

What ever happened to the first ZK-NEQ ?

The Bombardier DHC-8-315 c/n 397 was built at Downsview, Ontario, Canada and first flew as C-GETO20 on 06-02-1995.

It was delivered into Jan Smuts Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa on 27-02-1995 for SA Express Airlines - having been registered as ZS-NMH on 17-02-1995.

Below a drawing of ZS-NMH in its SA Express scheme.

On 20-11-1997 it was back on the Canadian register as C-GBRA2 with Bombardier Aircraft Inc.

Then followed a lease to Penta Airlines SA at Santarem, Brazil as PT-MPI from November 1997 until being listed on the US register as N282BC with Bombardier Capital Inc at Colchester, Vermont on 22-03-2000,

It then went on lease to Ansett New Zealand as ZK-NEQ1 on 26-04-2000 and was ferried from Calgary to Anchorage, Petropavlovsk, Kamchatskiy, Osaka, Saipan, Honiara, Norfolk Island to reach Christchurch on 06-05-2000.

First revenue service was from Christchurch to Dunedin on the 13th.

On 29-08-2000 title changed to Tasman Pacific Airlines of N.Z. Ltd for operations by QANTAS N.Z.

ZK-NEQ at Christchurch on 06-06-2001.

Relisted back to Bombardier Capital Inc on 15-06-2001 and on to lease to Origin Pacific Airways Ltd of Nelson.

The NZ registration was cancelled on 28-02-2002 and it was stored at Calgary, Canada and it became N788BC in the Wells Fargo books.

Bombardier revitalised it from 05-03-2004 and leased it to DAC Aviation International as 5Y-PTA for operations by Trident Aviation on behalf of United Nations Humanitarian Air Services.

Below is 5Y-PTA in its UN scheme. The W F P being the World Food Programme.

Next we hear of it as N308V under the Dynamic Aviation Holding Inc of Brightwater, Virginia on 16-09-2016.

Two photographs of N308V taken at Geneva.

N308V was cancelled on 22-06-2017 it was taken on by the US Army to be modified to a Bombardier RO-6A "Saturn Arch" under the serial number of 16-00397.