Impressions from the pilot’s black overalls appear on the tail-rotor blade (right) and tail boom (far right). The garment had snagged on the blade, breaking it and ultimately


shattering the tail-rotor gearbox. (Transport Accident Investigation Commission Photo)


tahrs, large goatlike mammals that were deliberately introduced to New Zealand as big-game trophies in 1904. In the absence of any natural predators, their ability to subsist on a wide variety of vegetation led their populations to increase to the point that their graz- ing inflicted extensive damage on the landscape and its plant life, threaten- ing the survival of native species that rely on that foliage for food and cover. Tahrs were recognized as a threat to the environment as early as 1930, their numbers having doubled in the first 16 years. Hunting remains the princi- pal method of keeping the population in check, and while their eradication from New Zealand is believed feasible, it hasn’t been pursued due to their popularity with recreational hunters and the income those hunts provide to landowners.


The Flight Images from two digital camera sys- tems on the airport grounds showed that by 10:45, the helicopter had been pulled from its hangar, refueled to capacity, given its preflight inspection, and loaded. It lifted off at 10:53 with one of the sharpshooters in the right front seat and the other on the right side of the rear bench. The pilot air-tax- ied to the approach end of Runway 11 and then climbed to 300 ft. above the runway centerline. The pilot advised a Robinson helicopter in the traffic pattern of his intention to depart early before turning left and climbing to 500 ft. on a northerly heading. Witnesses at the airport recalled


seeing the helicopter rotating as it descended “near vertically, with items trailing behind it” until the aircraft disappeared from sight behind the escarpment north of the field. Two experienced flight instructors were in the Robinson, watching the MD 500D to maintain separation. One saw “items exiting the helicopter toward the tail rotor.” Moments later, the tail boom bent


upward and separated from the cabin and the helicopter spun to the ground in a flat attitude “with several items being flung out.” The other instructor described “items being ejected from the cabin that looked like confetti” as the aircraft spun. It took about five seconds for the helicopter to hit the ground and catch on fire. The Robinson pilots flew to the


scene and orbited, making Mayday calls and summoning emergency services, then landed just southwest of the main wreckage. “Light debris” was still falling as they climbed out. Firefighters, police, and ambulances reached the scene about five minutes later. The fire was brought under control, but all


three occupants of the helicopter had been killed. Because the operator had received threats from opponents of the cull, the police initially treated the debris field as a crime scene.


The Aircraft The MD 500D (variously known as the Hughes 369D and Hughes 500D) is powered by a 420–shaft horsepower Rolls-Royce M250-C20B turboshaft engine driving a five-blade fully artic- ulated main rotor and a semirigid two-blade tail rotor. The operator had leased the 1979 model aircraft on Aug. 31, 2018, to fill a gap in its fleet until two newly ordered helicopters arrived. As of Oct. 15, 2018, its total time in service had reached 19,469.25 hours, while its engine, built in 1977, had operated for 18,569.85 hours. Its most recent 100- hour inspection had been completed on Jun. 25, 2018, not quite four months before the accident, at 19,430.50 hours of operation.


The Pilot The 38-year-old pilot earned his commercial license in 2007 and had


SEP 2024 POWER UP 59


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