‘Someone should have stopped the pilot’
SOMEONE close to balloon pilot Lance Hopping should have stopped him using cannabis before the doomed flight, the daughter of one of the victims says.
Sarah Scarlett, whose father Howard Cox and stepmother Diana Cox were among the 10 passengers who died in the 2012 Carterton tragedy, said someone should have spoken up about the pilot’s ‘‘cowboyism’’ with regard to drug use.
Speaking to The Dominion Post after Thursday’s final report by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission on the crash, Ms Scarlett also criticised a tolerance of substance abuse, especially by men, in the transport industry and in wider society.
Autopsy toxicology results from Mr Hopping, 53, indicated long-term and recent use, the report found.
‘‘Poor judgment and poor decision-making were factors contributing to this accident. The commission found that the pilot’s use of cannabis could not be ex-
cannabis cluded as a factor contributing to his errors of judgment, and therefore to the accident,’’ it said.
Ms Scarlett said Mr Hopping’s friends, family and workmates should share some responsibility.
‘‘There would have been people who would’ve known – it’s like child abuse, and people say it’s not my business, it’s not my place, or letting someone drive drunk. Everyone needs to say, that’s enough, it is my business. There are too many good people dying.’’
Ms Scarlett said the transport industry had to eliminate drug use. ‘‘There are a lot of people with really complacent and poor values ... that could care less, that go about their duties with people who rely on their skill and expertise and . . . they are prepared to risk all this for a high.’’
Ms Scarlett said the accident showed New Zealanders were too tolerant of substance abuse, and cited the ‘‘Seven Day Club’’ that Mr Hopping belonged to as an example.
She said club members, known to be hard drinkers, had behaved in a ‘‘disrespectful, intimidating’’ way at a memorial service in Car- the ceremony was held. A representative of the Seven Day Club did not want to comment.
Gary McPhee, Wairarapa representative on Greater Wellington Regional Council and former Carterton mayor, said he drank occasionally at the Seven Day Club as a guest and rejected suggestions the club promoted abuse of alcohol or other drugs. He knew club members well and did not find them intimidating. ‘‘They’re just a group of guys who like a ride and like a beer on a Friday night.’’
A spokesman for Wairarapa police said the Seven Day Club had a current club liquor licence. Police had no concerns about cannabis use or other issues at the club. Mr Hopping’s partner, Nina Kelynack declined to comment. His family could not be contacted.
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