Pauline Carson and Andrew Carson, parents of Ben Carson, hope for closure with the unveiling of a memorial to the Anzac Day 2010 crash which killed their son and two others. Photo / File
Pauline Carson and Andrew Carson, parents of Ben Carson, hope for closure with the unveiling of a memorial to the Anzac Day 2010 crash which killed their son and two others. Photo / File
"Terrified," says Pauline Carson about visiting Ōhakea Air Force base for the Anzac Day unveiling of a memorial to her son Ben and the two men with whom he died.
She draws a deep breath. "Very, very anxious. I just know how terrified I will be going there."
The last time Pauline and husband Andrew Carson set foot on the base was 12 years ago to view the wreckage of the Royal NZ Air Force Iroquois helicopter in which their son died.
On April 25, 2010, the helicopter took off from Ōhakea to take part in commemorative flyovers. It crashed into steep hills above Pukerua Bay north of Wellington.
The crash killed Corporal Ben Carson, Flight Lieutenant Hayden Madsen and Flying Officer Dan Gregory. Incredibly, Sergeant Stevin Creeggan survived, albeit with life-changing injuries.
When Pauline Carson speaks of terror, it's not only bracing for the pain that will come with remembering those early days of the tragedy. It's the agony added in the years that followed.
Over that time, it became clear just how much that Anzac Day crash was an "accident" waiting to happen. "If it had been a helicopter company in Queenstown it would have been shut down," she said.
It also became clear how difficult it was for the Air Force to embrace that fact - and how its failure to do so deepened the hurt for some families of the men killed.
Andrew and Pauline Carson reflected on this during an interview with the Herald. The bond of trust they had with the military, through generations of contact and middle-New Zealand's inbuilt faith, was tested by the crash but broken by what followed.
Air Force investigators at work around the wreckage of the Iroquois helicopter three people died in when it hit a hill above Pukerua Bay, north of Wellington. Photo / File
There have been many holdings to account. Official inquiries sparked by Herald investigations led to a health-and-safety framework for military workplace accidents that sat outside the Defence Force. Creeggan took a private prosecution against his commanders, securing a guilty verdict and admissions of failure.
The most recent was in 2020 when an inquiry by Michael Heron, QC, raised uncomfortable questions. Heron found the NZDF's internal inquiry had drifted until it hit a statute of limitations, at which point prosecutors turned to the culpability of senior commanders.
Andrew Carson speaks of the changes that took place, and the findings which led to those, as a process that allowed a proper understanding of why their son died and how it could be put right. And, along the way, faith and trust with the Air Force began to recover.
Corporal Ben Carson was killed in the Anzac Day 2010 crash north of Wellington. Photo / Supplied
The nature of the relationship began to change during Air Vice-Marshal Mike Yardley's time as Chief of Air Force. Andrew Carson remembers he and Pauline had asked for Ben's flying helmet.
"He brought it to Nelson [where the couple lived at the time]. And he said he would have this memorial."
The memorial was meant to be unveiled two years ago to mark the decade since the crash. The pandemic created a delay. Both the Carsons and Creeggan now live in Australia, so between closed borders and restrictions on gatherings, it couldn't go ahead. Stevin Creeggan will also be present, as will Gregory and Madsen's families.
Flying Officer Dan Gregory, photographed during his service in Afghanistan, was killed in the Anzac Day 2010 helicopter crash north of Wellington. Photo / Supplied
For years the Carsons - and Creeggans - had felt the Defence Force wanted to distance itself from the crash and those connected to it. Pauline Carson recalls that first visit to Ōhakea: "No one would talk to us, no one would look at us."
As simple an act as agreeing to bring Ben's helmet and doing so had an enormous impact on the grieving couple.
So, too, did communication with the Chief of Air Force's office. As Andrew Carson describes it, emailed questions once led to a "military response". The language, now, was that of "a human response".
Yardley's considered approach was followed by successors, Tony Davies then Andrew Clark, the current Chief of Air Force. That included waiting until pandemic conditions allowed the Carsons and Stevin Creeggan to travel to New Zealand for the unveiling.
Flight Lieutenant Hayden Madsen was presented his wings in 2005 by then Prime Minister Helen Clark. He died in the Anzac Day 2010 helicopter crash north of Wellington. Photo / Supplied
Simple gestures, human touches and empathy paved the way for the Carsons to walk into Ōhakea this Anzac Day morning for a dawn service at the place their son's final flight departed.
"To me, it means the Air Force has delivered on the promise Mike Yardley made - that it was going to do a memorial," said Andrew Carson.
"Hopefully it gives us a bit of closure because they have delivered on the promises through waiting for us to be there."
The Carsons will also have in mind changes brought to health and safety processes that place investigation and prosecution responsibility with WorkSafe, which it wasn't at the time of the 2010 crash.
The Creeggan family (from left) of Gail, Stevin and John celebrating after the successful private prosecution of NZ Defence Force over the Anzac Day 2010 crash. Photo / File
They watched closely the recent prosecution by WorkSafe of NZDF over three soldiers burned during a training exercise and the $450,000 fine.
The changes that followed the crash in 2010 saw health-and-safety inquiries handled differently and independently, making military service safer for every person serving.
"To me," said Andrew Carson, "that's the best thing that comes out of it."
