Failures contributed to chopper deaths, inquest told

John "Prickles" de Ridder was one of the men who lost his life in a helicopter crash on the evening of November 30, 2011.

A poorly resourced Far North Rural Fire Authority, coupled with multiple agencies co-ordinating the fight against a large scrub fire rather than one incident controller, contributed to the death of two Northland men in a helicopter, an inquest has been told.

Kerikeri pilot John "Prickles" de Ridder, 69, and Department of Conservation (DoC) ranger William Macrae, 54, of Awanui were on a fire reconnaissance flight on the evening of November 30, 2011, when their helicopter crashed into the sea off the Karikari Peninsula.

While flying over the major fire, they were tasked with finding five people trapped between the advancing flames and the sea. The five potential victims managed to get into a dinghy and were picked up by a fishing boat.

An inquest into the men's deaths continued in Whangarei yesterday, to deal specifically with issues around the firefighting process, communication and decision making during the incident.

The hearing started in December and Coroner Brandt Shortland adjourned it until yesterday in order to deal with the specific issues. Paul Baker, manager rural fire for the National Rural Fire Authority, told the inquest yesterday a number of failures in terms of co-ordination between emergency services during the incident were identified in a review.

Karikari Peninsula volunteer fire chief Thomson Lawrence becoming the incident controller and DoC staff in Kaitaia dealing with the helicopter led to miscommunication between emergency services, he said.

Mr Baker said the authority was created about five months before the helicopter crash and its draft fire plan had not been adopted when it should have been by November 30, 2011.

He said an incident controller, assisted by an operations manager, together with a suitably qualified person to direct air operations was needed to fight the fire and would have been the proper chain of command. "A well-run rural fire service has capable people who bring chaotic situations down to a very minimal level.

"Northland needs more able people in firefighting roles if it's able to perform its duties more satisfactorily," he said. A direction given by Auckland fire service communications for the helicopter to be taken off firefighting duties and be diverted to rescuing people was outside its role, Mr Baker said.

New Zealand Fire Service national operations manager Stuart Rooney earlier told the inquest of the need for better liaison between emergency services during large fires. The inquest continues.