Auckland Islands helicopter crash: Two survivors discharged from hospital

Wednesday, 24 April 2019

A helicopter arrives at Southland Hospital in Invercargill on Tuesday afternoon with the three men who survived a helicopter crash near the Auckland Islands.

Two of the three men who survived after their helicopter crashed into the freezing cold Southern Ocean near the Auckland Islands have been released from hospital.

Southern Lakes Helicopters operations manager Lloyd Matheson said on Wednesday morning the two crewmen – paramedic John Lambeth and winchman Lester Stevens – had been released from Southland Hospital.

Three men rescued from crashed helicopter walk into Invercargill airport.

The pilot, Andrew Hefford, was still in hospital, Matheson said.

Hefford and Lambeth were sitting at the front of the helicopter, with winchman Stevens the lone passenger in the back when it plunged into the ocean on Monday evening. It was about two minutes from landing on Enderby Island, just north of the Auckland Islands.

Andrew Hefford, pictured on the frozen Ross Sea in Antarctica in 2017, was the pilot in helicopter that crashed near Auckland Islands.

Southern Lakes Helicopter staff, from left, Sir Richard Hayes, Lloyd Matheson, Snow Mullally and Andrew Hefford. (File photo)

* Hayes calls for calm over rescue helicopter tender

* Sea search for missing man moves to recovery operation**

The helicopter was heading to the Auckland Islands, south of New Zealand.

Stevens was knocked unconscious and was rescued from the wreckage by Hefford and Lambeth, who then swam to safety in the pitch-black darkness.

The subantarctic islands – located 465 kilometres south of Bluff – are considered inhospitable and are known to experience harsh weather.

Stuff understands Lambeth had a possible broken wrist and Stevens had facial injuries. Hefford's injuries had yet to be confirmed, however he was initially believed to be uninjured.

Stevens' father, John Stevens told Stuff on Tuesday evening he did not believe in miracles.

'They survived because they had the right gear and they were resourceful and lots of survival skills, that's what saved them,' he said.

Matheson said they received a call about a sick seaman on an ocean-going fish trawler who needed to be extracted at the earliest opportunity on Monday morning.

A lot of planning went into deciding how to best get the seaman, he said.

Given the ocean weather patterns, they decided the best option was to position the aircraft on to the end of the island and stay the night in a Department of Conservation hut to allow the vessel to get close to them in the morning once the front had passed.

The aircraft was about two minutes from landing at Enderby Island when communications with those on board ceased. The last point of radio contact was at 7.37pm near Yule Island at the northern end of the subantarctic Auckland Islands.

'We couldn't explain why that happened, so immediately a full blown search and rescue operation was effected.'

The Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand started the search along with support from the New Zealand Air Force, which sent a P-3K2 Orion aircraft, and five fishing company vessels that were already near the islands.

However, the weather deteriorated and visibility diminished over the night and the searchers did not find anything.

The front passed overnight and four helicopters were looking for the men on Tuesday morning. The trio were found about 11.45am by experienced pilot and search and rescue expert Sir Richard 'Hannibal' Hayes. The men were 'waving frantically' and wearing immersion suits on a beach on the northeast corner of the island, Matheson said.

'We were hoping for the best, expecting the worst. When the rescue centre rang to say there's three guys safe on the beach, there was a huge roar that went around the office here.'

Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) spokesman Simon Pleasants said two staff began investigating the cause of the crash on Tuesday.

They travelled south from Wellington on Wednesday to start interviewing the survivors and operators.

They would also need to see training and maintenance records.

It was difficult to say how long the investigation would take, but aviation investigations usually took about 18 months.

However, if there were significant findings that would require urgent action by operators, regulators or the industry, TAIC would release an interim report, as done for a recent fatal helicopter crash in Wanaka.

A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said they were not investigating the crash, but would take action if recommended by TAIC.