Helicopter wreckage from Auckland Islands brought back to Bluff
Monday, 13 May 2019
A boat carrying the helicopter wreckage that crashed into the Southern Ocean near the Auckland Islands last month has arrived back in Bluff.
The Marine Countess arrived with the wreckage on board yesterday, with the wreckage since transferred off the boat to a holding facility in Bluff.
Last month, Southern Lakes Helicopters pilot Andrew Hefford, medic John Lambeth and winchman Lester Stevens were heading to a medical call to retrieve a sick seaman from a trawler about 500kms south of Invercargill when the helicopter they were in crashed into the Southern Ocean.
The trio swam to shore and were rescued about 16 hours later by their colleagues from Southern Lakes Helicopters.
Company operations manager Lloyd Matheson last week confirmed the Transport Accident Investigation Commission had given them permission to attempt to retrieve the wreckage.
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On Monday, Matheson confirmed the wreckage had been retrieved from the waters near Enderby Island.
'The wreckage will be inspected as part of the various investigations into the accident,' he said.
'Southern Lakes is co-operating fully with the investigations. No further comment will be made while the investigations are under way.'
Last week, Matheson said there was a Department of Conservation requirement to remove the aircraft wreckage from the marine environment and it was important to recover the wreckage to assist the company with its investigation into the crash.
The commission is investigating the crash and has a protection order over the wreckage.
Commission senior communications advisor Simon Pleasants said the wreckage would be transferred to Wellington and held in a storage facility until the investigation is complete if the commission believes it needed to go there.
'At this stage the wreckage is not as important as the evidence provided by the people that were on the helicopter,' Pleasants said.