Helicopter company charged over triple fatality
A Wa¯ naka-based helicopter company will face two charges over a crash that killed the pilot and two Department of Conservation workers.
The Alpine Group has been charged twice with failure to comply with its duties under the Health and Safety at Work Act in October 2018.
Pilot Nick Wallis and DOC workers Paul Hondelink and Scott Theobald died when the helicopter crashed as it took off from Wa¯ naka Airport.
An interim report from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) in December 2018 found evidence that a pair of over-trousers had flown out of the helicopter’s cabin and become tangled in the tail rotor and that the left rear door of the helicopter had opened and separated from the helicopter in flight.
However, it recommended further investigations. These are ongoing.
The charges were laid by the Civil Aviation Authority in the Queenstown District Court.
Yesterday, lawyers representing the authority and the company sought a date for a threeweek judge-alone trial to take place. Judge John Brandts-Giesen remanded the case until September 30. He excused himself from the trial due to a family connection.
The Alpine Group is majority owned by Nick Wallis’ father Tim Wallis and other family members are shareholders.
The crash happened three months after the in-flight breakup of a Robinson R44II, which claimed the life of Nick’s brother, Matt Wallis, also a pilot, on July 21.