Attack on chopper engineers ‘unwarranted’
matt.stewart@stuff.co.nz
Pilot Rick Lucas has hit back at aviation authorities for ‘‘jumping to early conclusions’’ in its investigation into his May 2017 Porirua harbour crash.
In a statement to the Dominion Post yesterday, Lucas blasted the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) for continuing attacks on chopper engineers as ‘‘unfounded and unwarranted’’.
On May 2 while over Pauatahanui inlet the helicopter Lucas was piloting began spinning and descended into waist-deep water. He was the only person on board and escaped uninjured.
‘‘The TAIC investigation has so far failed to find the root cause of my accident, seemingly failed to take in to account similar incidents with BK 117 helicopters around the world, and appears to have been distracted by irrelevancies. A much more thorough investigation of this crash is required to find the root cause of it and prevent it happening again to someone else,’’ Lucas said.
Lucas’ former chief engineer, Tom McCready, and Helicopter Association boss Bob MacGregor have also voiced concern over the investigation by TAIC and the Civil Aviation Authority as confusing and a slur on helicopter engineers.
His statement followed an interim report from TAIC released on Thursday, which raised concerns about ‘‘maintenance anomalies’’ that could compromise the safety of other choppers in Lucas’ formerly 32-strong Helipro fleet.
His faith in the engineers was backed by the fact a TAIC-prompted CAA airworthiness notice issued in December – for new owners of aircraft previously owned by Lucas warned of significant, potentially dangerous maintenance anomalies – showed up ‘‘a handful of minor issues and no serious safety issues’’, said Lucas.
‘‘TAIC appear to have jumped to early conclusions without considering all relevant information and in doing so unfairly maligned the reputation of some very good aircraft engineers.’’
In its report, the commission said it was ‘‘concerned that other aircraft previously operated by Helipro could have historical maintenance issues that could compromise aviation safety’’.
The report suggested the crashed helicopter’s tail rotor had been modified after being imported, despite the modification not being approved by the manufacturer. Serial numbers on the tail rotor blades were also missing.
TAIC chief investigator of accidents Captain Tim Burfoot did not directly address Lucas’ claims but said the interim report presented ‘‘some of the facts and circumstances established up to this point in the commission’s inquiry, and contains no analysis or final conclusions.