Post by corsair67 on Sept 13, 2006 11:10:11 GMT 12
From todays Dominion Post.
Fatal crash blamed on poor repairs
13 September 2006
By HELEN MURDOCH
A Murchison father of nine killed in a helicopter crash last year would ring his young son at the end of each day just to talk.
Phillip Devon Heney, 52, was killed in front of his horrified family in August last year.
His grieving family was yesterday dealing with a scathing Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) report which found a tail rotor incorrectly assembled by maintenance staff caused the crash.
The maintenance work was not properly checked off, nor were duplicate inspections carried out.
Two Nelson men, aged 55 and 58, who both have name suppression, now face manslaughter charges for the death of Heney.
They are to appear in the Nelson District Court tomorrow.
Keiran Heney, 20, last night did not want to talk about the crash that killed his father and plunged the close-knit family into grief.
He recalled how his father would ring him every night.
"He's gone and it's a huge gap that we, as a family, have to deal with," Keiran Heney said.
"If I could be a quarter of the man he was, I'd be proud.
"He was a great father, grandad, husband and mate."
Heney loved his family – it was his number one interest, apart from hunting and flying, said his son.
"He'd come and watch us play rugby and give the ref and players plenty of advice.
"He was exceptional – he put huge effort into us and he loved mum to bits.
"For me, the most memorable things were flying with Dad and later having nice venison on the barbecue and a few beers in the sun," he said.
Heney, a helicopter-flying instructor, had been teaching his son to fly.
"He use to say 'perfect is good enough for me', and if he did a landing and it wasn't right he'd lift off and land again. He was a straight-out good bastard.
"It's a shame all this has to happen before you say those things."
Heney died just metres from his family's Shenandoah farmhouse, 23km south of Murchison, when his Robinson R22 helicopter crashed on August 26.
Family friend Hamish Teddy, 27, received serious leg injuries in the crash, which happened as the men were preparing to land after a short, deer-hunting flight.
Heney had collected his helicopter from an aircraft maintenance business earlier that day and flown it home before he and Teddy went hunting. The tail rotor failed when Heney came into land near his house, sending it into an uncontrollable spin before it crashed.
Rayleen Heney declined to comment on the report, but she said her husband was "an ace pilot".
"The crash took away a friend, husband and great father," she said.
Fatal crash blamed on poor repairs
13 September 2006
By HELEN MURDOCH
A Murchison father of nine killed in a helicopter crash last year would ring his young son at the end of each day just to talk.
Phillip Devon Heney, 52, was killed in front of his horrified family in August last year.
His grieving family was yesterday dealing with a scathing Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) report which found a tail rotor incorrectly assembled by maintenance staff caused the crash.
The maintenance work was not properly checked off, nor were duplicate inspections carried out.
Two Nelson men, aged 55 and 58, who both have name suppression, now face manslaughter charges for the death of Heney.
They are to appear in the Nelson District Court tomorrow.
Keiran Heney, 20, last night did not want to talk about the crash that killed his father and plunged the close-knit family into grief.
He recalled how his father would ring him every night.
"He's gone and it's a huge gap that we, as a family, have to deal with," Keiran Heney said.
"If I could be a quarter of the man he was, I'd be proud.
"He was a great father, grandad, husband and mate."
Heney loved his family – it was his number one interest, apart from hunting and flying, said his son.
"He'd come and watch us play rugby and give the ref and players plenty of advice.
"He was exceptional – he put huge effort into us and he loved mum to bits.
"For me, the most memorable things were flying with Dad and later having nice venison on the barbecue and a few beers in the sun," he said.
Heney, a helicopter-flying instructor, had been teaching his son to fly.
"He use to say 'perfect is good enough for me', and if he did a landing and it wasn't right he'd lift off and land again. He was a straight-out good bastard.
"It's a shame all this has to happen before you say those things."
Heney died just metres from his family's Shenandoah farmhouse, 23km south of Murchison, when his Robinson R22 helicopter crashed on August 26.
Family friend Hamish Teddy, 27, received serious leg injuries in the crash, which happened as the men were preparing to land after a short, deer-hunting flight.
Heney had collected his helicopter from an aircraft maintenance business earlier that day and flown it home before he and Teddy went hunting. The tail rotor failed when Heney came into land near his house, sending it into an uncontrollable spin before it crashed.
Rayleen Heney declined to comment on the report, but she said her husband was "an ace pilot".
"The crash took away a friend, husband and great father," she said.
