Helicopter & fixwing midair at Pararparaumu

[Bravohotel]

Breaking News in New Zealand of a midair between a Helicopter & fixwing at Paraparaumu north of Wellington around 11:15am...first reports are not too good news.....Bravohotel

[Buster30]

preliminary news report:

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1316907/1585872

Two dead in mid-air collision
Feb 17, 2008 2:04 PM
Two people are dead after a light plane and a helicopter collided mid-air above Paraparaumu, north of Wellington late this morning.
Police say the two who died were on the crippled helicopter that crashed.
The plane also crashed, just missing a house but hitting Placemakers on Kapiti Road.
The Placemakers building is only a few hundred metres from the runway at Paraparaumu Airport.
The pilot of the helicopter has been taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Helicopter company Helipro, one of New Zealand's largest helicopter operators has confirmed one of its aircraft was involved in the collision.
Witness Ron Nippert says he was walking along Mazengarb Road in Paraparaumu when he heard a noise which sounded like a car backfiring.
He says he turned around and looked over and saw two different parts of the plane falling down.
Police have now cordoned off parts of Kapiti Road and more than half a dozen fire trucks as well as police and ambulances have been called out.

[Bravohotel]

Latest...2 dead in the chopper.....Cessna pilot taken to hospital in a critical condition

[JezusNut]

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4404910a10.html

Looks like one of the robbies

[Ding Dong]

Cessna pilot taken to hospital in a critical condition

The pilot of of the light aircraft involved in this morning's mid-air crash with a helicopter has died of his injuries this evening ..

very sad ...

I believe the same type of crash happened in Australia a day or so ago ...

14th of Feb ...
Two men walked away with minor injuries after a mid-air collision between a helicopter and a light aircraft that left two others dead in a remote part of Western Australia.
The survivors spent the night in rugged terrain in the Kennedy Range National Park after the R44 Helicopter and a Piper fixed-wing aircraft collided overnight while on a trip to shoot feral goats in WA's Gascoyne region, about 150km east of Carnarvon.

[VH-XXX]

Same type of crash as in Australia? I don't think so. An R44 hit a Piper Super cub during an aerial cull where they working together.

[M609]

Got it from a Norwegian website, quick google got me this:

Mid-air collision above Paraparaumu claims third life
6:35PM Sunday February 17, 2008
A young male pilot crashed his Cessna after a mid-air collision with a chopper. He later died in Wellington Hospital. Photo / Mark Mitchell

A young male pilot crashed his Cessna after a mid-air collision with a chopper. He later died in Wellington Hospital. Photo / Mark Mitchell

Did you witness the accident?
Email the Herald Newsdesk

The mid-air collision between a light plane and helicopter over Paraparaumu, north of Wellington today has claimed a third life.

The collision, at about 11.15am, resulted in two crash scenes - the helicopter falling through the roof of a timber yard at Placemakers, while the light plane hit the roof of a house about 200m away when it crash landed in Dennis Taylor Court, a cul-de-sac.

Two men in the Helipro helicopter died in the collision.

The young pilot of the plane, a Kapiti Aero Club Cessna 152, was flown to Wellington Hospital in a critical condition but has since died.

Police said the pilot died this afternoon in Wellington Hospital from multiple injuries.

The pilot initially survived the crash, with police at the scene telling NZ Herald photographer Mark Mitchell he had to be "dragged from his aircraft".

One eye witness told NZPA the pilot, the sole occupant, was taken to hospital by ambulance.

Eyewitness Anne Russell said she was watching the aircraft and thought they were getting too close to each other.

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"Then the left wing of the plane heading west toward the airport clipped the tail of the helicopter that was heading south - broke the wing off the plane which spun to the ground. The chopper seemed to carry on in a straight line for a brief moment, then plummeted straight down to the ground at high speed.

"The scream of the chopper falling will haunt me for a while."

An 18-year-old Surf lifesaver from the Australian Gold Coast who was on holiday in Paraparaumu found himself helping to free the pilot from the plane wreckage.

Ben McGee said he leapt two fences to reach the plane in the cul-de-sac after seeing it collide with a helicopter and spiral to the ground.

He told Radio New Zealand the engine separated from the plane in mid-air but the body and tail of the plane landed upside down in the cul-de-sac.

Mr McGee said the pilot was suspended from seat-belts but he cut him loose with a knife provided by a resident in the street.

"The plane was upside down and there was a young guy in there, probably about 20-23yrs. When I first got there he was not moving but I could hear him breathing.

"I asked him what his name was but he was not answering. He was quashed."

Mr McGee said several residents from the street used water hoses to keep leaking fuel away from the plane wreckage until emergency services arrived and retrieved the pilot.

The two aircrafts are believed to have collided above the Placemakers building, about 200 metres from the runway at Paraparaumu Airport.

It's believed no Placemakers customers or staff were injured.

The accident was attended by six fire trucks, police and ambulances.

Witnesses said there was no sign of fire at either crash site.

A spokesperson for commercial helicopter company Helipro has confirmed the aircraft belonged to the company.

Company spokesperson John Read said it is not yet clear what happened.
"Our sole focus at the moment is looking after our people."

Helipro is among New Zealand's largest commercial helicopter companies, sepcialising in scenic flights and flight training.

- NZ HERALD STAFF, NZPA


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10492962

[Ding Dong]

Same type of crash as in Australia? I don't think so. An R44 hit a Piper Super cub during an aerial cull where they working together


Well, I do think so ... they still hit each other didnt they regardless of 'working together' ... ???

[John Eacott]

Transport Accident Commission report (http://www.taic.org.nz/ReportsandSafetyRecs/AviationReports/tabid/78/ctl/Detail/mid/482/InvNumber/2008-001/Page/0/language/en-US/Default.aspx?SkinSrc=[G]skins/taicAviation/skin_aviation)

On 17 February 2008, a mid-air collision between a light aeroplane and a small helicopter over Paraparaumu resulted in the deaths of 2 student pilots (aged 17 and 19 years) and a flight examiner (aged 30). Both aircraft were destroyed and several homes and commercial premises damaged, but no persons on the ground were injured.
The pilot of the aeroplane was following a standardised joining procedure for a sealed runway that took it into the path of the helicopter operating on a parallel grass runway. Had the conflict been recognised, the pilot of the aeroplane should have given way to the helicopter under general conflict-avoidance rules.
The investigation determined that the 3 pilots were concentrating on flying their aircraft and planned manoeuvres to the detriment of maintaining an effective lookout. Despite the pilots of both aircraft making appropriate radio calls that should have alerted the other and ensured adequate separation was maintained, as the 2 aircraft closed on each other, the pilots appeared to have made no attempt to continue their lookout until positively identifying the other aircraft and turning away. All pilots have a responsibility to maintain a good lookout and avoid a collision, regardless of who has the right of way.
A review of international standards and relevant research taken together with the accident circumstances found no evidence to support a review of pilot minimum age limits in New Zealand, with pilot competency being a more relevant consideration than age.
The potential for a mid-air collision at Paraparaumu, with its parallel runways and multiple and diverse operations, had been well recognised, but little had been done to mitigate the risk. Why the regulator did not act on the recommendation of a 1996 risk assessment to introduce specific joining procedures could not be explained. Neither the aircraft operators based on the aerodrome, the aerodrome owner and operator nor the regulator had maintained a coordinated approach to identifying and managing safety issues and risks at the aerodrome.
The absence of an air traffic control or information service on the aerodrome was not considered a significant factor, as the pilots were almost universally operating in accordance with visual flight rules where "see and avoid" is the primary and final defence in avoiding a collision. Further, there had been no appreciable change in the rate of near misses or other traffic conflicts since the removal of a staffed air traffic service. But there may have been a general reluctance among pilots to report such incidents.
Mid-air collisions are rare events. There was no evidence found in a review of New Zealand and
international data that the risk of impact damage to property or people on the ground near aerodromes merits consideration of a specific response for Paraparaumu or elsewhere. However, future planners and regulators need to be aware of the risks to ensure continued safe operations around aerodromes. Since the accident the aerodrome operator has held several user meetings, and conducted a risk review of aerodrome operations that has recommended a range of changes to aerodrome configuration, circuit procedures and requirements that should reduce the risk of mid-air collisions. The regulator has issued a general reminder to pilots of circuit procedures at uncontrolled aerodromes, and issued improved aeronautical charts containing circuit and runway information for Paraparaumu Aerodrome, including the adoption of specific joining procedures.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has recommended to the Director of Civil Aviation
that he act to increase his staff?s promotion of safe management of flying activities at all aerodromes and help educate pilots on effective visual scanning and active listening to radio calls. Further, to review operations at aerodromes around New Zealand with similar circuit patterns to help prevent future mid-air collisions.
(Note: this executive summary condenses content to highlight key points to readers and does so in simpler English and with less technical precision than the remainder of the report to ensure its accessibility to a non-expert reader. Expert readers should refer to and rely on the body of the full report.)