No safety briefing for fatal Hawke's Bay helicopter flight, Civil Aviation Authority finds

Thursday, 6 August 2020

No safety briefing took place ahead of a fatal helicopter crash in Hawke's Bay, a Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) investigation says.

The crash, which happened near Ngamatea Station at about 8.30am on July 14, 2018, resulted in the death of Hawke's Bay businessman Renata 'Ren' Apatu, a “hugely loved husband, father and brother” and whose death was “a tragic loss”.

Pilot Jim Guerin and a junior pilot sustained serious injuries, while other two passengers onboard received moderate injuries.

Guerin was conducting an agricultural aerial operation to look at crops on Ngamatea Station when the crash occurred.

**READ MORE:

* Man who died following Waiouru helicopter crash was Hawke's Bay businessman Renata 'Ren' Apatu

* Ngamatea Station owner rubs shoulders with royalty

**

While the cause of the crash was still being established by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, CAA aviation safety deputy chief executive Dean Winter had taken a prosecution against Helicopter Hawke’s Bay (2006) Limited because “the rules were in place to ensure minimum standards of safety for both the pilot and passengers”.

“In this case, a safety briefing wasn’t provided and more importantly there were two passengers on the flight who did not need to have been on the flight that day. It’s important for pilots to consider that the reasons for not carrying non-essential passengers, is to reduce the consequence of such an incident,” Winter said in a statement on Thursday.

The defendant Helicopter Hawke’s Bay (2006) Limited appeared in the Taupō District Court charged with operating an MD 600N helicopter in a careless manner, breaching section 43A of the Civil Aviation Act.

Judge Maree MacKenzie said that she was not making any findings about the cause of the crash – which the defence submitted was comprehensive mechanical failure - and was proceeding on the basis that the breaches had not caused Apatu’s death.

Helicopter Hawke’s Bay Limited held the appropriate certificates for a commercial and agricultural helicopter service.

Judge MacKenzie considered there were two aggravating features – the carelessness demonstrated by two breaches of the Civil Aviation rules, and the unnecessary exposure of two people to the inherent risks of low-level flying. That risk should have been obvious to an experienced company and pilot, she said.

Guerin, the sole director and part-shareholder of the company, pleaded guilty and was fined $11,500.

However, the fine was reduced to $6750 after personal mitigating factors and the guilty plea were taken into account.