Govt still undecided on 'black box' for Robinson helicopters five years on

Friday, 18 June 2021

James Patterson Gardner and his mother Louisa “Choppy” Patterson. James was 18 when he died in a helicopter crash in 2015. His mother is the owner of the helicopter company.

A grieving mother has made a renewed plea for in-flight recorders to explain why Robinson helicopters sometimes break-up mid-flight – five years after authorities officially recommended the move.

Louisa “Choppy” Patterson, whose son died in a 2015 helicopter crash near Queenstown, said she was “past frustrated” that in-flight video and data recorders, similar to an aircraft’s black box, were not yet required in helicopters in New Zealand.

The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) recommended in-flight video and data recorders be used in such aircraft in its investigation report into the 2015 Robinson R44 crash that Patterson’s son, James Patterson Gardner, 18, and pilot Stephen Combe, 42.

It said the cause of the crash was unknown, but the helicopter experienced mast bumping, which caused it to break up mid-flight.

As two more people die in a Robinson helicopter crash, a US lawyer representing crash victims and families labels the helicopter 'unsafe and unairworthy'. (Video first published in November, 2016).

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The Robinson R44 involved in a 2015 crash where two men were killed.

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Matt Wallis was killed when his helicopter crashed over Lake WÄnaka in July 2018.

Mast bumping is contact between an inner part of a main rotor mechanism and the main rotor drive shaft and is typically the result of turbulence, sudden movement, and/or a “low-gravity situation”.

Many types of helicopters could suffer mast bumping events, but the consequences could be catastrophic in Robinson helicopters.

Because the helicopter typically broke up mid-flight with little or no warning, there was usually insufficient evidence of what caused it.

The wreckage of the helicopter crash that killed Stephen Anthony Nicholson Combe, aged 42, of Wānaka, and James Louis Patterson Gardner, aged 18, of Queenstown, from above.

TAIC's 2016 recommendation to promote in-flight cameras was made to the Ministry of Transport and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

They said the recommendation was “premature”, but the director of Civil Aviation requested an assessment of the safety and cost benefits of recording devices.

“Given the timeframe of such a study is likely to be lengthy; the director cannot provide a completion date at this stage,” the CAA said.

TAIC has since added Robinson helicopters to its watchlist, government departments such as the Department of Conservation have stopped using them, and there have been more mast bumping incidents, such as the 2018 death of Wānaka helicopter pilot Matthew Wallis.

This week the CAA referred questions about the progress made in the last five years to the Ministry of Transport.

Ministry economic regulation manager Tom Forster said the ministry was developing a guide for installing cockpit videos in helicopters, which would make it easier for the industry to install the devices.

“There is a growing body of evidence from operators who have found them a useful means of monitoring and improving day to day operation.”

Forster said the CAA intended to get feedback from the industry on whether the systems should be mandatory or voluntary.

Stephen Combe, the helicopter pilot killed in Queenstown in 2015.

While giving evidence this week at an inquest into the 2015 crash that killed her son, Patterson was asked if she was frustrated at the length of time it was taking for the recommendation to be implemented.

“We’re well past that now,” she said.

“In the meantime, accidents continue to occur and the footage and data that could assist … is not available.”

Patterson urged Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame to recommend that data recording devices be made compulsory in all aircraft with 10 seats or fewer, as they did not carry a black box.

There were affordable devices that could provide invaluable and fast data for crash investigators, including views of the control panel, pilot and GPS data, she said.

Worldwide, there had been 313 Robinson R44 crashes resulting in 176 deaths. The cause of the crash was unknown in nearly 60 per cent of the cases.

“No other aircraft type has these atrocious statistics,” she said.

“Let's put a stop to these unexplained in-flight break-ups by raising awareness, gathering evidence, fixing the problem, enhancing aviation safety,” she said.

Patterson had developed her own in-flight data recorder, known as “Eye in the Sky”, which she had promoted internationally and was approved by the CAA in December.

It cost about US$5500 (NZ$7863), compared to the US$500,000 cost of a new Robinson helicopter.

Profits from the sale of Eye in the Sky would go to the James Patterson Gardner Foundation, set up in her son’s name, to help people between 17 and 25 reach their full potential in their chosen field.

Patterson said there were other suitable products for aircraft owners to consider too.

It would be terrible for another family to go through what she had been through, she said.

“Somehow God has left me with my aviation knowledge, having taken James, to try and enhance aviation safety.”