Chopper legend crashes
Helicopter ‘‘legend’’ Bill Reid is recovering at home after a crash while fighting the forest fire near Nelson.
Reid suffered minor injuries on Sunday when his helicopter made a hard landing while fighting the Tasman wildfire near Eves Valley.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (Fenz) and police were called to the scene at 2.55pm. They found the helicopter and the pilot in a bush area inside the cordon. The helicopter was not on fire.
Reid was taken to Nelson Hospital with minor injuries. He was treated and discharged later that day.
Reid Helicopters, a familyowned company prominent in the area, released a statement confirming one of their helicopters was involved.
It did not say what caused the helicopter to go down.
The pilot jettisoned a monsoon bucket and made a mayday call before the incident, Reid Helicopters said.
A representative of Reid Helicopters declined to comment when contacted by Stuff on Monday morning.
However, Beck Helicopters pilot Alan Beck said Bill Reid, the pilot involved in the crash, is a world-renowned helicopter operator with more than 45 years experience flying helicopters.
He said Reid’s father, John Reid, was one of the founders of the helicopter industry in New Zealand.
‘‘The fact that he got it [the helicopter] down and saved himself meant that his training must have kicked in,’’ Beck said.
‘‘He did a beautiful job of putting it down.’’
In a post on his Facebook page, Nelson MP Nick Smith paid tribute to Reid as ‘‘a legend in the helicopter industry’’.
Reid had briefed Smith and National leader Simon Bridges on the work the pilots had been doing to battle the Tasman wildfire on Friday.
‘‘He and fellow pilots have been doing the hard yards protecting peoples lives and homes’’.
Since he began flying helicopters in the early 1970s, Bill Reid has been involved in deer recovery, mountain rescue, firefighting, heli-fishing, heavy lifting and movie work, mainly in New Zealand, but also in Hong Kong, England and Papua New Guinea.