KEY POINTS:
A helicopter pilot who walked away from a chopper crash with a few minor scratches yesterday said a cat could have done more damage.
Stewart "Stu" Hamilton was taking his home-made Bell 47 chopper, nicknamed Baby Bell, for a flight in the afternoon when it spun out of control.
The 53-year-old contractor from Tokoroa said he didn't even have time to be scared before his survival instincts kicked in.
"It was spinning around, out of control, so I knew I had to get it on the ground," he told the Herald on Sunday last night.
"When it was spinning around it was totally out of control, so it actually was moving sideways when it hit the ground. It tipped over.
"It was really probably a bit of luck the way it landed and how things turned out."
Hamilton landed in a field near Tokoroa's Gun Club on Maraetai Rd, State Highway 32. He was halfway out of the wreckage when helpers approached. He said that after turning to see the mangled remains he thought, "I need to buy a Lotto ticket" _ and he did, after a routine visit to Tokoroa Hospital.
His injuries consisted of a series of scratches on his head, arm and finger.
"I just got a few scratches," said the pilot of eight years. "There would have been more damage if I had been clawed in the arm."
Hamilton said he was unable to comment on the possible causes of the accident because the incident was being investigated by the Civil Aviation Authority. The authority did not return Herald on Sunday calls last night.
Police said they were not investigating. Hamilton was determined not to let the experience put him off flying.
A man received serious injuries after his glider crashed in a rural Southland paddock last night. Police at the Southern Communications Centre said a helicopter from Te Anau was sent to rescue the pilot at about 6.45pm.
