Air Force pilot narrowly avoids hitting logging cable

Monday, 22 July 2019

A RNZAF A109 helicopter on a routine training flight was spared a catastrophic crash, thanks to a smoko break.

A lucky smoko break was the only thing that saved a New Zealand Royal Air Force (RNZAF) helicopter from a 'catastrophic' crash into a logging cable.

A June 26 incident at Nelson's Wairoa Valley prompted a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) investigation which highlighted a gap in aviation safety, and the CAA is working with forestry to improve reporting guidelines for alerting pilots to cable hazards.

The helicopter was seen flying 'fast and low' through the Wairoa Valley, near Nelson, just moments are a suspended cable had been lowered.

Forestry workers contracted by Tasman Pine were on a tea break, and had lowered the logging cable from its 180 metre height just before the helicopter flew 'fast and low' through the valley.

Tasman Pine chief operating officer Steve Chandler said the logging crew were so startled they stopped work for the rest of the day and immediately notified the CAA, who visited the following week with WorkSafe.

Steve Chandler Tasman Pine Forest's chief operating officer.

The Wairoa Gorge, which is also popular with mountain bikers, is the site of a Tasman Pine forestry operation where cables are used for log haulers.

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'[The operation has] been in place for a number of months and it's quite a big valley up there and we had the cable across,' Chandler said.

'[It] caused quite a bit of concern, as it was a lot lower than what we would have expected a helicopter to be at.'

The crew were 'having a cup of tea', so had lowered the cable.'If it had been at its full height it could have potentially been in the flight path of the helicopter, which is what really concerned us.'

One witness who saw the helicopter said he thought, ''holy s… that guy is low'. You know; he must have thought he was Top Gun or something.

'You could have had your helicopter basically cut in half by this wire … He should go buy himself a lottery ticket.'

The witness said local pilots knew to avoid the area when logging operations were underway. However, a New Zealand Defence Force spokesperson said no notifications had been made about the wire prior to the RNZAF A109 helicopter taking off for a training flight. The next day a notice had been posted, he said.

The CAA said following its investigation it had planned an information campaign.

'If it wasn't for the hauler operator lowering his ropes to the ground ahead of a smoko break, there could have been catastrophic consequences for both those in the helicopter and on the ground,' spokesman Blake Crayton-Brown said.

It was working with the forestry and aviation sectorsto develop 'refresher guidance' about risks.

'These steps include raising a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM), a formal process for alerting pilots to hazards. Forestry operators could also contact local aerodromes and aircraft operators, and consider putting lighting or other visible warning signs in place to warn aircraft of the hazard.'

A NZDF spokesperson said they'd spoken with CAA and had been told there was no mandatory system for forestry operators to submit Notices to Airmen, but it was usually done as 'good practice' under health and safety guidelines.

Chandler said it was a positive outcome as it gave them clarity on what information needed to be shared.

They were putting 'stringent procedures' in place to ensure that any cable operation was notified 'as a matter of course'.

''We certainly can work with CAA and WorkSafe to make sure that risk is really minimised. But it still is up to people flying helicopters and low-flying aircraft to check with CAA that there are hazards in the area.'