Post by flyjoe180 on Mar 13, 2008 22:05:26 GMT 12
Family of crash victim relieved at guilty verdict
Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:11p.m.
The family of pilot Philip Heney said today they were relieved two men responsible for maintenance of the helicopter he was killed in were found guilty of manslaughter.
Mr Heney, a father-of-nine, was killed when a tail component failed while he was landing his Robinson R22 helicopter near Murchison, southwest of Nelson, in August 2005.
Former maintenance company owner, John Horrell, 56, and a senior engineer, Ronald Potts, 60, were today found guilty in the High Court at Nelson of his manslaughter and causing injury to a passenger.
Mr Heney's wife Raylene said life had been hard for her and the children over the past two-and-a-half years.
"It is justice, it will help us as a family ... he is missing a huge part of his family with new babies and his son just getting married, as a family we've just got to stick together," she told Radio New Zealand.
Mr Heney's son Keiran will follow in his father's footsteps on Saturday when he sits his private aircraft licence.
"Definitely with pre-flight I'll take a lot more time, I'll definitely be more cautious," he said.
The family said life would never be the same but the guilty verdict would allow everyone to move on.
Detective Sergeant Mark Kaveney said the verdicts were a small measure of comfort for the family.
He said aircraft engineers needed to take more care and be more vigilant in their work.
"We don't want to see another one of these incidents," he said.
The prosecution said Horrell and Potts failed to properly supervise maintenance work on the helicopter.
A jury returned its verdicts this morning after deliberating for around 10 hours over two days.
The crash occurred near Mr Heney's home on August 26, 2005, the day he collected the chopper from Skytech Aviation where it had been undergoing maintenance.
Horrell owned the company and Potts worked for Skytech as a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer.
Investigators found the Robinson R22 crashed when an incorrectly assembled flange, connecting the tail rotor driveshaft, failed.
In closing yesterday Crown prosecutor Glen Marshall said the defendants failed to ensure work on the helicopter was directly supervised by a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer and inspected twice by qualified engineers.
They will be sentenced on May 2.
NZPA
www.tv3.co.nz/News/Familyofcrashvictimrelievedatguiltyverdict/tabid/209/articleID/49238/cat/41/Default.aspx
Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:11p.m.
The family of pilot Philip Heney said today they were relieved two men responsible for maintenance of the helicopter he was killed in were found guilty of manslaughter.
Mr Heney, a father-of-nine, was killed when a tail component failed while he was landing his Robinson R22 helicopter near Murchison, southwest of Nelson, in August 2005.
Former maintenance company owner, John Horrell, 56, and a senior engineer, Ronald Potts, 60, were today found guilty in the High Court at Nelson of his manslaughter and causing injury to a passenger.
Mr Heney's wife Raylene said life had been hard for her and the children over the past two-and-a-half years.
"It is justice, it will help us as a family ... he is missing a huge part of his family with new babies and his son just getting married, as a family we've just got to stick together," she told Radio New Zealand.
Mr Heney's son Keiran will follow in his father's footsteps on Saturday when he sits his private aircraft licence.
"Definitely with pre-flight I'll take a lot more time, I'll definitely be more cautious," he said.
The family said life would never be the same but the guilty verdict would allow everyone to move on.
Detective Sergeant Mark Kaveney said the verdicts were a small measure of comfort for the family.
He said aircraft engineers needed to take more care and be more vigilant in their work.
"We don't want to see another one of these incidents," he said.
The prosecution said Horrell and Potts failed to properly supervise maintenance work on the helicopter.
A jury returned its verdicts this morning after deliberating for around 10 hours over two days.
The crash occurred near Mr Heney's home on August 26, 2005, the day he collected the chopper from Skytech Aviation where it had been undergoing maintenance.
Horrell owned the company and Potts worked for Skytech as a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer.
Investigators found the Robinson R22 crashed when an incorrectly assembled flange, connecting the tail rotor driveshaft, failed.
In closing yesterday Crown prosecutor Glen Marshall said the defendants failed to ensure work on the helicopter was directly supervised by a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer and inspected twice by qualified engineers.
They will be sentenced on May 2.
NZPA
www.tv3.co.nz/News/Familyofcrashvictimrelievedatguiltyverdict/tabid/209/articleID/49238/cat/41/Default.aspx
