The plan was to fly to the rendezvous point with only minimal equipment, return to shore to stabilize the patient, move him to a more comfortable stretcher while the helicopter refueled, then transport him to Invercargill, South Island. The crew expected to meet the ship at 7:50 am the next day.
The Aircraft The operator dispatched a Kawasaki BK 117 C-1, a twin-engine helicopter whose pair of 692–shaft hp Turbomeca Arriel 1E2 engines drive a four-bladed rigid main rotor and conventional tail rotor. Its maximum gross weight of 3,350 kg (7,385 lb.) provides a useful load of 1,249 kg (2,754 lb.), and a high-mounted tail boom fitted with dual vertical stabilizers allows room for clamshell rear doors that facilitate loading. The 1996-model aircraft was imported into New Zealand in May 2016, registered as ZK-IMX, and acquired by the air ambulance operator in July 2017. The helicopter came equipped with a radio altimeter primar- ily visible from the pilot’s (right) seat and NVG–compati- ble lighting certified by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) of New Zealand in simulated blackout conditions in December 2017. The helicopter’s last recorded total flight time before the accident was 6,559 hours on Mar. 23, 2019.
The Crew The single pilot was accompanied by a paramedic and a winch operator. His commercial pilot certificate was valid for VFR flight only. His 6,673 hours of experience included 43 hours in the BK 117 C-1 and 135 hours in all types during the preceding 90 days. He held a current First-Class Medical Certificate and had received both his initial NVG training and helicopter underwater egress training (HUET) in 2013. The pilot had logged 73 hours of night flying; his log- book did not specify NVG time, but he told investiga- tors that “all recent night flight” had been on NVG, including 0.5 hours in the previous week and another 0.4 in the preceding 90 days. Those hours combined included three takeoffs and landings to maintain currency. The paramedic had logged 198 hours of NVG time since undergoing initial training in 2015, including a revalidation check just 14 days before this flight. The paramedic also completed HUET refresher training in May 2018 and received overwater emergency training covering ditching procedures, aircraft evacuation, and life raft operation. The winch operator had taken the same overwater emergency course, completed
refresher HUET training in September 2013, and logged a total of 120 hours of NVG time, including a revalida- tion check in November 2018. Both were contract employees who flew with the operator on an on-de- mand basis.
The Flight The crew intended to leave their base at Te Anau, South Island, in time to reach Enderby Island in daylight, but delays in releasing and delivering the required medical supplies pushed their departure back to 3:43 pm local time. The paramedic took the left-front seat, planning to monitor the flight using NVG. The winch operator was still returning to base by road and was picked up en route to a fuel stop at Invercargill, where the crew also donned their immersion suits and life jackets and checked the NVG. The pilot filed a verbal flight plan with local air traffic control (ATC), anticipating three hours of flight time, and departed VFR at 5:03 pm. The flight extended beyond the ATC zone and lasted past the end of the service day, but the operator main- tained contact via a VHF radio repeater on Stewart Island, then by satellite phone beyond radio range. The pilot made regular position and status reports, and a satellite tracking system provided flight-following information.
At 6:50 pm, with the helicopter still in daylight at
3,000 ft. about 90 nm from its destination, the pilot dis- cussed the crew’s progress with the company’s chief pilot and concluded that it was safe to continue. The clouds of the approaching frontal system were visible on the horizon. At 6:58 pm, the pilot reported that he and the paramedic were using NVG; the winch opera- tor, who was not, recalled that it was “pitch black.” As they approached their intended landing area, it appeared to be covered by a cloud bank. An area with clear weather extended northwest from Port Ross. The helicopter’s GPS database included alternative landing sites where they could camp overnight, but the pilot proposed flying south past Ewing Island to descend in the clear area, then follow the coastline back to Enderby Island. He turned south at 7:34 pm, passing 1.5 nm east of the landing zone, and set the radio altim- eter reference to 1,000 ft. as he turned west and began to descend. He subsequently reset the reference to 500 ft. and then 250 ft. while slowing to 75 kt. About one-quarter mile south of Ewing Island, the paramedic saw cliffs ahead and alerted the pilot. The pilot flared to slow the helicopter and tried to turn right, but at 7:43 pm, the aircraft struck the ocean’s surface in a shallow descent and slight right bank.
MARCH 2024 ROTOR 85
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