Chopper pilot takes final flight
Hundreds of mourners gathered at the Alpine Helicopters hangar in Wanaka for the funeral of Nick Wallis.
The youngest son of Sir Tim and Lady Prue Wallis was farewelled after he died in a helicopter crash last week.
Yesterday his coffin was carried into the hangar as his family entered, with Sir Tim, in his wheelchair, holding a wreath.
Nick’s wife Carrie and their 7-year-old daughters Genevieve and Katrina accompanied the coffin.
In the service, they spoke movingly of their husband and dad, alongside Nick’s brothers Jonathan and Toby.
Later Nick’s coffin was loaded into a Hughes 500 helicopter for a final flight.
Nick, who was the director and general manager of Alpine Helicopters, was killed alongside Department of Conservation workers Paul Hondelink and Scott Theobold in a helicopter crash shortly after takeoff in Wanaka last Thursday.
In July Nick’s brother, fellow pilot Matthew Timothy Wallis, was also killed in a helicopter crash.
They were both pilots in the family’s aviation and tourism businesses.
Hondelink’s funeral will be held this afternoon at the same location.
The family of Theobald, who was also killed in the crash, will hold two funeral services — one at 2pm on Wednesday at Glentanner Holiday Park near Aoraki/Mt Cook, and one at 2pm on Saturday, November 3, in Whanga¯rei.