Subj : Helicopter door warning after final report into fatal Wanaka crash
To   : All
From : News
Date : Thu Jun 13 2024 12:58 pm

By Abbey Wakefield, 1News Reporter
7:17am

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has released its final report
on the safety issues identified after a triple fatal helicopter crash near
Wanaka in 2018.


Pilot Nick Wallis and Department of Conservation (DOC) workers Paul Hondelink
and Scott Theobald all died on October 18, 2018, after taking off in a MD500D
helicopter from Wanaka Airport.


The flight was part of a DOC operation to control the tahr population in the
Haast area.


About a minute after take-off, the Transport Accident Investigation
Commission (TAIC) found that it was very likely that the left-rear door
opened unexpectedly in flight, and a pair of unsecured overalls exited from
the rear cabin and were struck by the tail rotor.


TAIC found that the clothing quickly became entangled in the tail rotor,
causing a tail rotor blade to break off.

The tail rotor assembly then became severely imbalanced, detached and struck
the main rotor disc, breaking two adjacent main rotor blades, and putting the
main rotor assembly out of balance. Another main rotor blade then struck the
tail boom and the tail section separated.


The helicopter then became uncontrollable, and was destroyed when it hit the
ground and caught fire.


All of this happened in the space of about 14 seconds.


Deputy chief commissioner Stephen Davies Howard said TAIC could establish
from the evidence what happened, but not exactly why.


The Commission found it very likely the door opened because its latch was
worn and outside the manufacturer's tolerances.

The opening might have been prevented if the manufacturer's maintenance
manual had clearer instructions and these had been followed during routine
maintenance.


Manufacturer MD Helicopters has responded positively to TAIC's finding and
revised their manual and guidance.


The Alpine Group Limited's managing director Jonathan Wallis welcomed the
report today and described the crash as an "unspeakable tragedy".


"We welcome the report's findings, accepting that the actual initiating
sequence and cause of the accident will likely never be known," Wallis said.


"Despite this, TAGL has worked extremely hard to try to identify several
potential causal factors and have collaborated with the wider industry to
continually improve aviation safety and ensure that similar incidents can be
avoided in the future.


"We remain totally committed to this."

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