‘We don’t blame him’ – widow
The widow of a man killed in a helicopter crash says the court case against the pilot was unnecessary, stressful and retraumatised everyone involved.
Jaimee Edwards lost her husband Liam, and their 5-week-old son Alex lost his father, when the Robinson R22 he was a passenger in crashed in the Lindis Pass in Otago on April 30, 2016.
Pilot Murray Sarginson fought the Civil Aviation Authority charges of reckless conduct and failing to comply with his duties under health and safety legislation. But in March Judge Bernadette Farnan found Sarginson flew an overloaded aircraft in cloudy conditions before the death of his friend and business partner Liam.
On Wednesday, the judge ordered him to pay $100,000 in reparation, fined him $10,000 and ordered court costs of $10,000. He was also sentenced to community work of 350 hours and four months’ community detention.
Edwards said she and Liam’s family supported Sarginson.
‘‘We don’t blame him and we believe the crash was an accident and wish that he wasn’t prosecuted at all,’’ she said.
The court case retraumatised
everyone involved, including Edwards, who gave emotional evidence of the day her husband died, she said. ‘‘It’s just dragged it all out – forced us to remember the day that no-one wants to remember rather than the man he was.’’
She remembered Liam as a fun-loving man with a huge laugh, who told wonderful, animated yarns. He was a passionate hunter and a great husband. ‘‘Liam wasn’t going to die lying on the sofa reading a book,’’ she said.
He was also a proud new dad to Alex.
Now aged 3-and-a-half, Alex
knew who his dad was, she said. Family photos were taken when he was 3 weeks old and they were looked at daily.
‘‘We have said Dad fell out of the sky and is in heaven.’’
Alex was an outgoing boy, she said. ‘‘He’s got some great yarns that make no sense at all. That’s definitely his father coming out.’’
She had coped since Liam’s death partly through the support from her Southland community and family, especially her parents who she is living with and helping run the family’s sheep and dairy support farm.
An overseas trip earlier this year helped her refocus on herself and look at events from a distance ‘‘rather than be overwhelmed with it every day’’, she said.
The crash
Sarginson and Liam Edwards were flying from Athol, in Southland, to Mt Algidus Station, in Canterbury, when the crash happened. Their earthmoving business, AgWorks, was contracted to work at the station.
They became caught in fog and clipped a blade on a hill.
Both men survived the initial impact with Edwards walking away and saying he was going to find help. Searchers later found Edwards unconscious and tried to resuscitate him, but he was declared dead at the scene.
Pathologist Dr Martin Sage determined Edwards’ death was caused by high energy impact injuries to the chest and pelvis, causing multiple fractures to his ribs and pelvis.
Sarginson suffered chest and head injuries.
‘‘We don’t blame him and we believe the crash was an accident . . .’’
Jaimee Edwards