The service was held at 9am, the time an NAC DC-3 flying from Auckland to Tauranga crashed into the side of Mount Ngatamahinuera in the Kaimai Range after getting caught in a severe storm and losing its way on 3 July, 1963.

All 23 people on board died.

The memorial service was held near a plaque about 9km from the crash site. Afterwards, a vintage DC3, similar to the aircraft that crashed, flew past.

Captain David Morgan from Air New Zealand told relatives of those killed that the aviation industry still shares in their grief.

But he said, the aviation industry had learned from disasters such as this one.

Author Richard Waugh said the crash was a culmination of a number of factors, including appalling weather conditions.

Mr Waugh said inadequate weather forecasting and inferior navigational equipment also contributed to the disaster.

Because of the weather, he said the pilot would not have been aware of exactly where he was.