Second helicopter tragedy for Wallis family
Wanaka’s Wallis family has been struck by a second helicopter tragedy in less than three months.
The Otago Daily Times understands pilot Nick Wallis was one of three people killed in a helicopter crash near Wanaka Airport this morning.
He is survived by a wife and twin 7-year-old daughters.
Yesterday’s crash comes less than three months after his brother and fellow pilot Matthew Timothy Wallis was killed in a helicopter crash.
The 39-year-old’s body was discovered in the chopper wreckage at the bottom of Lake Wanaka, two days after the crash.
It is understood Nick Wallis was flying a leased Hughes 500 also carrying two Department of Conservation staff when it crashed yesterday. An empty DoC vehicle can be seen at the airport car park.
A former DOC worker who has flown with Nick Wallis on many occasions said it was a brand new Hughes 500 helicopter that was super safe.
“It will be really interesting to find out what has happened here. I can’t believe it would a pilot error as Nick was super experienced and a really talented pilot.”
He said Wallis ran a well-organised operation and they were using a brand new machine that was specifically designed to be super safe. Family’s flying history
The Wallis family have owned and operated Alpine Helicopters Hanger — now known as Alpine Helicopters and Minaret Station — in Wanaka for 55 years.
Alpine Helicopters’ website describes Nick as the youngest of the Wallis brothers. He had 3000 flying hours under his belt and was also a licensed helicopter engineer.
The brothers’ father, Sir Tim Wallis, was well-known as a pioneer of the live deer recovery industry in New Zealand and the founder of the Warbirds Over Wanaka airshow.
Sir Tim had survived 15 air crashes with the last one, in 1996 in a World War II-era Spitfire ending his solo flying career and nearly his life.
In 1964, Sir Tim bought his first helicopter and crashed while learning to fly the following year.