Underestimated Safety Risks


An open helicopter door triggers a disastrous sequence of events.


By David Jack Kenny S


MALL ERRORS CAN HAVE GRAVE CONSE- quences. While this fact is not exactly news in avi- ation and especially the rotorcraft sector, it seems to merit periodic repetition. Over time, the history


of accidents shows a pattern of gradual erosion of standards arrested only after an avoidable tragedy shocks the industry back into paying attention.


The Mission On the morning of Oct. 18, 2018, the pilot and two Department of Conservation rangers met at the Wānaka Airport (NZWF) on New Zealand’s South Island to prepare for what the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) later described as “an airborne wildlife-cull- ing operation.” The plan was to load a commercial operator’s MD Helicopters MD 500D with equipment and sup- plies, including some to be handed off to a second helicopter’s crew, and fly to a remote staging area near the Landsborough River in the Southern Alps. From there, they would make several flights with the doors off to conduct the hunt. In addition to four rifles and 4,000


rounds of ammunition, the cargo included the crew’s cold-weather over- alls, recording equipment to document the cull, a cooler containing food and drink, and two 20 L cans of jet fuel. By 10:45 am, it had all been loaded into the cabin, with most items stowed on the floor or under the left side of the rear bench seat. Press reports indicate the operation was intended to control Himalayan


58


POWER UP SEP 2024


ACCIDENT RECOVERY


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76