The wreckage of the Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter on Mt Pirongia today after it crashed during a rescue mission the day before.
The wreckage of the Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter on Mt Pirongia today after it crashed during a rescue mission the day before.
A rescue helicopter which crashed in rural Waikato last night was trying to get close to a patient who needed to be winched out of the bush when it went down, it has emerged.
The Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter pilot, critical care flight paramedic and crewman were flying above Mt Pirongia, near Te Awamutu, when the helicopter went down about 5pm. All three on board escaped injury.
It was while they were trying to get near the patient that “they’ve had the incident which has evolved into an accident”, Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter chief operating officer Chris Moody said tonight.
“The helicopter has entered the trees, the forest, partially under control but unable to continue sustaining flight.
“The blades have all come off but the hull has survived in an upright position largely undamaged.”
Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter chief operating officer Chris Moody says the crew involved in yesterday's incident on Mt Pirongia are keen to get back to work. Photo / Mike Scott
The mangled wreckage of the crashed BK117 helicopter.
Two more choppers - Taranaki Rescue Helicopter and Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter - were sent to help those from the Hamilton-based BK117 helicopter as well as the patient, understood to be a tramper, who had originally needed rescuing.
The Auckland crew winched out three men aged in their 40s, 60s and 70s, flying them to Waikato Hospital “in a minor [injuries] condition”, an Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter spokesman said.
Because of patient confidentiality, he couldn’t say whether the trio were from the Waikato helicopter or included the patient they’d been trying to reach.
A BK117 from Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter lost its rotor blades but its hull remained intact after it came down while on a rescue mission at Mt Pirongia yesterday. Photo / File
All three rescue helicopter crew members had been checked by medical staff and were physically fine, Moody said.
“They’re keen to return to flying, I’m told. But of course that will take a longer process for us to determine how and when the right time for that is.
“This is clearly going to have shaken them, no question. They’ve been very lucky.”
The trio had “our support wrapped around them to see they get through this”, he said.
The Civil Aviation Authority and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission are investigating the crash.
A team from the commission will arrive in Hamilton tonight and will be at the Mt Pirongia site tomorrow.
It would be up to investigators when the helicopter could be removed.
Photos posted to social media today show the downed chopper jammed into thick bush and with its rotor blades mangled.
The rescue helicopter crashed into thick bush on Mt Pirongia.
The helicopter came down near Wharauroa Lookout.
Commission acting chief investigator of accidents Jim Burtenshaw this afternoon put an exclusion zone around the main wreckage site.
The protection order covers a 1km perimeter around the reported final main wreckage location near Wharauroa Lookout.
It protects any wreckage within the exclusion zone, or “any identified aircraft type components found in the vicinity outside this area”, according to Burtenshaw’s order.
“The evidence may assist in establishing the circumstances and causes of the accident. Anyone finding debris should report this to the police.”
It’s not yet known how long the order would remain in place.
Cherie Howie is an Auckland-based reporter who joined the Herald in 2011. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years and specialises in general news and features.
