Two Dead in Queenstown Robinson R44 Crash

[Dave Homewood]

'Tragic outcome' - Two dead in Queenstown helicopter crash
UPDATED 17:21
Published: 3:34PM Thursday February 19, 2015 Source: ONE News

Two men have died in a helicopter crash near Queenstown.

The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand launched a search effort at around 2.30pm after the Robinson 44 helicopter was reported overdue.

RCCNZ Keith Allen says the wreckage of the helicopter was found in the Lochy River basin shortly after 4pm. Two men onboard, from Queenstown and Wanaka, died in the crash.

"This is obviously a tragic outcome and our thoughts are very much with the families of those involved," says Mr Allen.

The aircraft was operated by Over the Top helicopters in Queenstown.

The matter is now being handled by the police.

tvnz.co.nz/national-news/tragic-outcome-two-dead-in-queenstown-helicopter-crash-6238577

[bounce]

TAIC to investigate. They seem to have been particularly interested in Robinson accidents the past few years.

[isc]

Wonder why?    isc

[Dave Homewood]

This is really sad

Owner's son killed in Queenstown helicopter crash
JODY O'CALLAGHAN AND BRITTANY MANN

Last updated 11:46, February 20 2015


Facebook
OUTPOURING OF SUPPORT: Wanaka helicopter pilot Steve Combe and wife Steph.

Tributes are pouring in for the two people killed in yesterday's helicopter crash near Queenstown, as investigations begin into its cause.

This morning, Prime Minister John Key, paid tribute to teenager, James Louis Patterson Gardner, 18, of Queenstown, who died alongside helicopter pilot and former Royal Marine, Stephen Anthony Nicholson Combe, 42, of Wanaka.

Patterson Gardner was the son of Louisa Patterson, who runs Over the Top Helicopters, which owned the Robinson R44 that went down west of Lake Wakatipu about 2.30pm yesterday.


Facebook
ST ANDREW'S OLD BOY: James Louis Patterson Gardner, 18, with John Key.

The wreckage was found in remote bush in the Lochy River basin shortly after 4pm.

In a statement issued this morning, Over The Top said it had temporarily suspended operations while it focused on supporting family and staff.

It said there was "no indication" what had caused the crash at this early stage but it was working with relevant investigating authorities including the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC), the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and the police.


Rachael Brian Montei/Facebook
FORMER MARINE: Stephen Combe.

The helicopter firm paid tribute to "our much-loved team members and friends" who died in yesterday's accident.

It said its "commitment to safety is of number one priority" and all staff were highly trained and experienced.

"Stephen has over 12 years' experience of flying in the local area and had many years' serving as a Royal Marine pilot."


Map of helicopter crash location

The firm said also that "James was no stranger to flying" as his mother had headed up the company for 29 years.

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"It's a hugely difficult time for everyone at Over the Top - both will be sorely missed by all the team and our thoughts are with the family and friends of Stephen and James," said the statement.

It asked for the families and staff to be given time to grieve and work with investigators.


One of Over the Top Helicopter's Robinson 44 helicopters.

TRIBUTES TO 'AMAZING' WANAKA PILOT

There has been an outpouring of support for the young family of Wanaka helicopter pilot Steve Combe following confirmation of the 42-year-old's death.

Friends have posted tributes on Facebook, saying they are heart broken, find the news hard to believe and that Combe was an "amazing, generous man".

Combe and his wife Steph, a pilates intructor, moved to Wanaka in 2003 after Combe, a former British Royal Marine with the 847 Naval Air Squadron, completed his tour of duty in Iraq and retired from military service.

They threw themselves and their sons Alexander and Josef into the great outdoors, tramping together, taking part in rogaines and orienteering events and supporting Wanaka mountain runner Mal Law's High50 Challenge.

They were also members of Wanaka's New Life Church.

Steph Combe worked as a senior executive for a management consulting firm before the couple decided to move with their newborn son to New Zealand in September 2003.

Combe began working as a pilot for commercial helicopter companies, most recently Over The Top in Queenstown, while his wife established her pilates business in Wanaka.

Combe was born in South Africa, raised in Britain, and obtained a technology degree at university in Plymouth.

Before joining the British Royal Marines, he worked for the Christian organisation Food For The Hungry in Rwanda, during that country's civil war.

During his eight year military career he served in a logistics role in Sierra Leone, Kosovo and Basra.

TEENAGER 'A FINE YOUNG MAN' - PRIME MINISTER JOHN KEY

It is understood Patterson Gardnerhad been due to leave New Zealand today to study at an overseas university.

The Prime Minister this morning said he knew Over the Top owner and the teenager's mother Louisa "Choppy" Patterson and had met her son. Facebook has a picture of the two on a golf course overlooking Queenstown.

"It was a privilege to meet James on a number of occasions," said Key. "He was a fine young man.'

"It will be devastating for the family and my heart goes out to them."

TRUE GENTLEMAN OF AVIATION

Friend Duncan Faulkner said Combe was a "true and honest gentleman of aviation". "The kind of chap I would want my daughters to marry," he said.

"He had incredible faith, and would literally go to the end of the earth to help a mate or complete stranger."

Combe's family declined to comment.

Christine Leighton, principal of St Andrew's College, said Patterson Gardner completed five years as a boarder in 2014.

"It's just tragic," she said.

"He had a whole exciting life ahead of him." Leighton understood Patterson Gardner had been due to go overseas today, possibly to Sydney, for university studies. "He was just such a beautiful boy who everybody loved," she said.

"He lived life to the full." Patterson Gardner was a school house leader and a keen skier, she said.

"We couldn't speak more highly of him as a young man." His friends in the boarding hostel were "devastated by the news" and were being supported by staff. In a statement, Over The Top Helicopters said the company was "deeply saddened" by the deaths.

"We would like to express our deepest condolences to friends and families of both members on board and are devastated by the loss of such valued and highly regarded team members," the company said.

"We would like to sincerely thank the emergency services for their incredible effort and assistance."

Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand spokesman Keith Allen said three helicopters were involved in the search.

"This is obviously a tragic outcome and our thoughts are very much with the families of those involved," he said.

Queenstown police are investigating and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has opened an inquiry into the crash.

Two investigators have started gathering background information and will travel to Queenstown today to meet police and the helicopter company.

Detective Sergeant Brian Cameron of Queenstown police said it was too early in the investigation to speculate as to possible causes of the crash. Police were working with the Civil Aviation Authority and the TAIC at the crash scene.

www.stuff.co.nz/national/66427851/owners-son-killed-in-queenstown-helicopter-crash



- The Press

[bounce]

An emergency AD has been released prohibiting further flight in R44s with a certain P/N rotor blade due to suspected blade failure. Fairly heavy stuff.

[nosig]

www.stuff.co.nz/national/66485213/chopper-ban-after-deaths-unprecedented

[Dave Homewood]

That is a lot of commercial aviation operations curtailed in one hit. I hope they get the issues sorted soon, that cannot be good for the aviation industry to have 80 helicopters sitting idle.

[isc]

According to TVNZ news there was mention of a similar accident in a R-44, suggesting a link up, one an accident, two, perhaps a coincident, maybe more. isc

[Dave Homewood]

If there is a link it's a pity they didn't catch it before the latest two people lost their lives.

[baz62]

Sometimes it takes more than one accident to realise there is an issue fleetwide. They are still working on the first accident and won't have a conclusion yet (can takes months or longer) but with one happening so soon after the first one the right decision was made, otherwise they would be grounding fleets everytime something has an accident.

[kiwithrottlejockey]

From the Civil Aviation Safety Authority website in Australia....

R44 helicopter main rotor blade action

All Robinson R44 helicopters fitted with main rotor blades P/N C016-7 have been grounded. This follows a fatal accident in New Zealand.

• Airworthiness Directive AD/R44/24 has been issued (PDF document).

[skyhawkdon]

Man how close to separating was the blade in that earlier incident in January looking at the photos?! They were very lucky to get it down in one piece.

[ErrolC]

www.caa.govt.nz/public_and_media_info/caa_releases/med_rel_robinson_r44_2.pdf

MEDIA STATEMENT February 24, 2015
CAA lifts flight ban on Helicopters
The Director of Civil Aviation, Graeme Harris has today withdrawn an Emergency
Airworthiness Directive that last Saturday grounded all Robinson R44 series Helicopters fitted
with a (C016-7) ‘Dash 7’ Main Rotor Blade (MRB).
The Directive was issued as a safety precaution following the fatal accident in the Lochy River basin
near Queenstown on Thursday 19th February. It resulted from initial advice from the safety
investigators at the scene of the accident that damage to the MRB was similar to the 23 January
incident involving the partial failure of another R44 MRB. In that case the pilot experienced severe
vibration but was able to land the aircraft safely.
Sections of the MRB from the aircraft that crashed in the Lochy River Basin were flown to Wellington
for laboratory testing. That testing has established that while the location of the blade failure was
similar to that of the blade involved in the 23 January incident, the mechanism of the failure was
different.
‘The blade retrieved from the Lochy River had failed due to overloading – probably due to impact
damage.’ Mr Harris said. It was highly likely that it was damaged during the accident sequence
rather than being the failure that initiated the accident.’
‘Now that we have established that the blade failure in the Lochy River basin was the consequence of
the accident rather than its cause, I am satisfied the precautionary grounding of aircraft with the
Dash 7 blade can be safely removed. “Mr Harris said
He has advised that the Continuing Airworthiness Notice, issued by the CAA calling for a pre-flight
inspection of Dash 7 MRBs following the 23 January failure has been escalated to an Airworthiness
Directive to make regular inspection of the rotor blades a mandatory requirement. (see attached)
‘We don’t want to see any complacency amongst operators as there is still a concern with these
blades and we are waiting on test results from the USA before we review the Airworthiness notice.’
He said
The blade involved in the first incident was still enroute to Robinson in the US for analysis by them
and the Federal Aviation Administration. The CAA will closely monitor the results of the work in the
US and consider its implications for the NZ R44 fleet.
“In these situations we have to be proactive – our primary concern is aviation safety – the public and
industry expect nothing less.’ Mr Harris said.

[suthg]

That's good news in that those grounded aircraft can now fly and work again!

[Dave Homewood]

A damning report of the Robinson R44 from the coroner as a result of this tragic accident.

www.stuff.co.nz/national/125432142/helicopter-crash-that-claimed-two-lives-near-queenstown-avoidable

[11SQNLDR]

Jun 15, 2021 7:58:59 GMT 12 Dave Homewood said:

A damning report of the Robinson R44 from the coroner as a result of this tragic accident.

www.stuff.co.nz/national/125432142/helicopter-crash-that-claimed-two-lives-near-queenstown-avoidable

As much as I love aviation and aircraft I'll be damned if I or any of my family would ever ride in a bloody R44

[McFly]

More from the inquest today and Tom McCready. Here

Robinson helicopters 'cheaper, less powerful', inquest into fatal crash told

Robinson helicopters are the “scooter” of the helicopter world – a lighter, cheaper and less powerful model of aircraft made available to the masses, a crash investigator says.

Lecturer, aircraft engineer and former Civil Aviation Authority accident investigator Tom McCready​ said every part of a Robinson helicopter was lighter than the equivilient part in any other helicopter. “I can pick up a Robinson blade to move it. I need about four guys to pick up a Huey [Iroquois helicopter] blade,” he said. “[Robinson helicopters] are there for the masses to go flying. I think that was the intention.”

McCready was giving evidence before Coroner Alexandra Cunninghame during an inquest into the deaths of student pilot James Patterson Gardner, 18, and instructor Stephen Anthony Combe, 42, of Wānaka. They were killed when their Robinson R44 helicopter broke up midflight in the Lochy Valley, near Queenstown, in February 2015.

A 2016, a Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) report into the crash found no clear reason for the crash, but concluded that the rotor blades had struck the cabin in a mast bumping event. Mast bumping happened when there was contact between an inner part of a main rotor mechanism and the main rotor drive shaft, causing the helicopter to break up in flight.

The inquest heard on Monday that there had been 313 Robinson R44 crashes resulting in 176 deaths worldwide. The cause of the crash was unknown in nearly 60 per cent of the cases. Aviation expert Tom McCready was one of the authors of a report into the 2015 Robinson R44 helicopter crash near Queenstown that claimed the lives of James Patterson Gardner and Stephen Combe.

McCready was a contributing author on an independent report, commissioned by the coroner, into the 2015 Queenstown crash. He said he had already stopped using Robinson helicopters for his investigative work before the crash that killed Patterson Gardner and Combe. His work usually entailed being at a remote, mountainous crash site, where weather could deteriorate quickly, so it was safer to be in a more powerful helicopter, he said.

Damage to Coombe and Patterson Gardner’s helicopter indicated there had been mast bumping and blade divergence – where the tips of the rotor blades became uneven, he said. It was unclear which of those events happened first. The blade struck the front of the helicopter cabin three times and that would have happened within “points of seconds”, leaving little or no time for the pilot to react, he said.

McCready, who had investigated 38 fatal helicopter crashes and many non-fatal crashes, said mast bumping in Robinson helicopters usually resulted in the machine breaking up while in flight. Mast bumping incidents in other helicopters were very rare, he said. Robinson helicopters designed totally differently to anything else he had worked on and required extra training and safety awareness in New Zealand. “They are quite unique.” Operators often had four-seater Robinson 44s to supplement their bigger helicopters and so they could offer a cheaper alternative for smaller groups.

In 2016, TAIC added Robinson helicopters to its watchlist, which resulted in organisations such as DOC banning their staff from using them. “With the TAIC watchlist and all the things we’ve done over the years, there’s a great awareness of Robinson helicopters and their limitations amongst the flying community.”

The inquest is continuing.