Pilot error can’t be ruled out in helicopter crash

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission cannot rule out pilot error in a helicopter crash that injured 13 people.

The commission released findings of the 2013 crash near Wanaka involving two AS350 Squirrel helicopters operated by Queenstown’s The Helicopter Line.

A pilot and 12 tourists were flown off Tyndall Glacier in Mt Aspiring National Park after one helicopter clipped another while attempting to land. The pilot of the descending machine suffered serious head injuries.

The report says the first helicopter landed and the second helicopter was about to land but aborted. On a second approach, the helicopter drifted towards the parked helicopter and its tail contacted the main rotor blades of the parked helicopter.

Investigators could not determine the exact cause of the crash, but could not rule out that the pilot misjudged his approach, the report said. Technical, helicopter performance and other environmental factors were excluded as crash contributors.

The pilot at the centre of the crash, Kerry Somerville, was no longer able to fly, The Helicopter Line’s Mark Quickfall said.