Brothers share heartbreaking tribute video of pilot Nick Wallis

Friday, 26 October 2018

Family of pilot Nick Wallis have shared a heartbreaking video a week after he was killed when his helicopter went down over Wanaka.

The brothers of two pilots who both died in tragic helicopter crashes have shared a moving tribute video.

Pilot Nick Wallis died last week with Department of Conservation workers Paul Hondelink and Scott Theobald when their helicopter went down in Wanaka. The crash happened less than three months after Nick's brother, Matt Wallis, died when his helicopter plunged into Lake Wanaka during a short solo flight.

The pair were the youngest of four brothers in Wanaka's well-known Wallis family and were both helicopter pilots in the family's aviation and tourism businesses.

A screenshot of the tribute video that shows pilot Nick Wallis flying over Wanaka.

Their older brothers, Toby and Jonathan Wallis, shared the video on the Alpine Helicopters Facebook page on Thursday, a week after Nick died. Stuff was given permission to share it.

**READ MORE:

Wanaka helicopter pilot Nick Wallis died in a Hughes 500 crash while flying DOC workers Scott Theobald and Paul Hondelink to cull tahr.

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Paul Hondelink, 63, was on the helicopter that went down near Wanaka Airport.

* Helicopter plummeted 300m, creating a metre-deep hole in the ground

A helicopter crash in Wānaka claimed the lives of three people, including two DOC workers and pilot Nick Wallis, whose brother died in a helicopter crash in July. (First published October 2018)

* Missing helicopter pilot's brother tells of desperate search

* Missing Wanaka pilot presumed dead as search enters recovery phase**

They posted a message with the video that read: 'We think this is pretty special. We think you will find this special too. Toby & Jojo.'

DOC ranger Scott Theobald, 59, who was killed in a helicopter crash at Wanaka.

Pilot Nick Wallis and two Department of Conservation staff perished in a helicopter crash near Wanaka Airport. Pictured is the wreckage of the Hughes 500.

Matt Wallis was taken for one last flight during a ceremony in Wanaka in July.

It has been viewed more than 66,000 times in 24 hours.

The 3.32-minute video shows Nick Wallis flying passengers in an Alpine Helicopter over Wanaka.

The two new 500E helicopters, which would be added to the Alpine Helicopters fleet, had HMW and HNW printed on them – the initials of Matthew and Nick Wallis.

Family and friends will celebrate Nick Wallis' life on Saturday at the family-owned Alpine Helicopters hangar at Wanaka Airport, the same place Matt Wallis was remembered.

A service for Paul Hondelink will be held at the same place on Sunday.

The Theobald family will hold two services, one on Wednesday at Glentanner Station in Aoraki/Mt Cook, and one on November 3 in Whangarei at a venue yet to be confirmed.

The trio left Wanaka Airport about 10.51am on October 18 and were headed north to carry out tahr control in the Haast area on the West Coast.

For reasons still unknown, the Hughes 500 helicopter crashed into farmland just north of the airport, near Stevenson Rd, and burst into flames. No-one survived.