KEY POINTS:
A Rotorua pilot's inexperience at flying his new helicopter may have led to the crash that killed him and his friend, the Coroner's Court in Taupo has revealed.
Chris Barns, 50, and his friend, Tauranga man Kim Austin, 45, were killed on impact when Mr Barns' small Robinson 22 helicopter plummeted upside- down and crashed on a freshly sown field in Aratiatia, 10km north of Taupo, on January 10, 2004.
The pair suffered massive injuries in the crash.
A Civil Aviation Authority report shows the crash most likely happened because of what is known as an "uncorrected low-g situation", which is caused by the pilot. It is a phase used when the pilot and airframe feel temporarily "weightless" because the aircraft is in free-fall or decelerating vertically at the top of a climb.
The report said the crash probably happened after the helicopter descended suddenly towards Lake Rotokawa.
Mr Barns, a former world champion jetsprinter, rally driver and businessman, had only spent 20 hours flying the Robinson 22 helicopter.
Mr Austin, also a former rally driver, operated a fishing business in Taupo.
- Daily Post
