NAC suffered its first fatal air crash on 9 August 1948 when DC-3 Freighter ZK-AOE Parera crashed above Port Underwood claiming the lives of Commanders Murdo McLeod and RJRH "Dicky" Makgill. The DC-3 had taken off from Woodbourne Airport near Blenheim on a routine freight flight bound for Paraparaumu and entered cloud, crashing into Scraggy Ridge. A lack of radio navigation equipment was highlighted in the crash report. Some wreckage remains on the ridge.