PNG Helicopter Crash 8th August 2011

[Savoia]

.
PNG Chopper Crash


An Australian commercial pilot has been killed in a helicopter crash in Papua New Guinea, authorities say.

Peter Waters, 70, was flying the helicopter to Lae on PNG's north coast on Monday morning when it crashed, killing him and two security guards.
The crash site was spotted later that afternoon but rough mountainous terrain and poor weather stopped investigators from Barrick Gold's Porgera mine air rescue team getting to the site, said team member Mac Grace.

"We weren't able to rappel onto the site until Wednesday morning due to bad weather, although we were in the vicinity," Mr Grace told AAP.
"Unfortunately there were no survivors.

"Our priority became to clear part of the jungle to allow other helicopters to come through."

David Inau from PNG's Accident Investigation Commission said Mr Waters was a good friend who had lived in PNG for more than 10 years.
"I knew him very well," Mr Inau told AAP.

"My investigators are trekking to the scene now. They will be there tomorrow, they're making arrangements to get to the crash site.
"The weather has been too bad to travel."

Mr Grace said the crash was an eerie reminder of the Kokoda plane crash that killed nine Australians on August 11, 2009.

"This was the same team that attended the Kokoda crash, which was two years to the day," he said.

Australian man dies in PNG chopper crash (http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/australian-man-dies-in-png-chopper-crash-20110811-1io5w.html)

[Nigel Osborn]

That's very sad news. I knew Peter very well as we both flew for the same company in Tassie for 7 years. I see the report mentions bad weather & although he didn't have an instrument rating, with all his experience in Tassie, Hong Kong, Indonesia & PNG, I'd be very surprised if he allowed himself to be caught out by bad weather which after all is one of PNG'S hazards.
Unfortunately I've lost contact with his family but he knows how sad my Wife & I are at this news.:sad:

[rotaryman]

Australian man dies in PNG chopper crash
August 11, 2011, 2:53 pm
An Australian commercial pilot has been killed in a helicopter crash in Papua New Guinea, authorities say.

Peter Waters, 70, was flying the helicopter to Lae on PNG's north coast on Monday morning when it crashed, killing him and two security guards.

The crash site was spotted later that afternoon but rough mountainous terrain and poor weather stopped investigators from Barrick Gold's Porgera mine air rescue team getting to the site, said team member Mac Grace.

"We weren't able to rappel onto the site until Wednesday morning due to bad weather, although we were in the vicinity," Mr Grace told AAP.

"Unfortunately there were no survivors.

"Our priority became to clear part of the jungle to allow other helicopters to come through."

David Inau from PNG's Accident Investigation Commission said Mr Waters was a good friend who had lived in PNG for more than 10 years.

"I knew him very well," Mr Inau told AAP.

"My investigators are trekking to the scene now. They will be there tomorrow, they're making arrangements to get to the crash site.

"The weather has been too bad to travel."

Mr Grace said the crash was an eerie reminder of the Kokoda plane crash that killed nine Australians on August 11, 2009.

"This was the same team that attended the Kokoda crash, which was two years to the day," he said.

[Savoia]

.
There seems to have been a rash of weather related disasters this past month throughout the entire Asia-Pacific belt from Thailand through Indonesia and now, perhaps also, PNG.

"Barrick Gold's Porgera mine air rescue team." Does this, as it suggests, mean that Porgera operate their own air rescue service?


.. bad weather which, after all, is one of PNG'S hazards.

Indeed it is and one of the chanllenges must be in constantly maintaining that fine balance between observing healthy 'no go' boundaries and getting the job done.

[gulliBell]

...I'd be very surprised if he allowed himself to be caught out by bad weather which after all is one of PNG'S hazards...

Alas another terrible all-too-familiar outcome. Peter was a very experienced PNG helicopter pilot, yet despite all that experience one can still come to grief in PNG. Sadly.

The last time I saw him up in PNG he had been caught out in the weather, out to sea in a basic VFR helicopter...it was raining so hard his GPS couldn't see any satellites. All he had to navigate was a magnetic compass and wrist watch...he was spooked by the experience, and it spooked me just hearing him recant the story.

RIP Peter.

[helihub]

Subject aircraft was P2-RUH, a Bo105LS

[tolakuma manki]

The report stated that they couldn't get to the helo because of bad weather, not that he crashed because of bad weather.
The two most recent helo incident/crashes in PNG have been because of engine failure.
And the one near Komo from pilot error.

TM

[Nigel Osborn]

Whose 105 is it?

[OCTANE100]

Very, very sad news.

I enjoyed many years working with Pete in Tassie, all over Aus, in the ice and SE Asia......... and ALWAYS enjoyed his company.

Rest in peace....

[ramblingrotors]

Worked with Pete over 20 years ago.
Sorry to hear the bad news.

RIP Pete.

[tolakuma manki]

Whose 105 is it?
There is only one operator with BO105 in PNG.
Owns a shipping company.

TM

[Savoia]

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-WpmPrz7Njic/TkRHcNYH0rI/AAAAAAAAEZg/IJm8CTaqfuM/P2-RUH.jpg
Manolos Aviation Bo105 P2-RUH during a recent visit to Finschafen


Three people are dead following a helicopter crash in Morobe province on Monday, The National reports.

The twin-engine helicopter belonging to the Lae-based Manolos Aviation, was on its way to Wafi, in the Bulolo district, but a heavy cloud cover prevented it from landing.

The helicopter was trying to return to Lae when it went missing between Mumeng and Wafi. Two G4S security guards and the expatriate pilot, Peter Wallace, were on board the helicopter.

An air search was launched immediately to locate the missing helicopter. However, aerial search and rescue attempts during the past three days had drawn a blank because the area was still under a heavy cloud cover.

Late last night Civil Aviation Minister Puri Ruing said the crash site had been found but there were no survivors. He said the crash of the helicopter, P2-RUH, happened about 5km south of Timini.

"The investigation commenced shortly after the accident happened and the onsite component of the investigation will be continuing for several days," Ruing said. He said the bodies of the pilot and the two passengers were being retrieved late yesterday while the investigators' reports would be ready within four weeks.

More (http://malumnalu.********.com/)

[peter manktelow]

so sorry to hear about Peter's sad demise. I have fond memories of flying with him in Tassie in very early Hookway days and then again when it became Brambles. Pete was a good solid pilot.

[AEROMEDIC]

I too, will miss Peter. I worked with Peter many times in Indonesia, Malaysia and Antarctica. Many good times in Hobart and lots of memories. His death is a shock to all his friends. He was a true professional and operated as such. As much as he loved flying, I did hear he was planning to retire soon.
He will be missed by all who worked with him.
Condolences to his family.

May he rest in peace..........

[skidsoff]

Shocked to hear of this terrible news.

My heartfelt condolences go out to his family and all involved.

I still have great memories of flying with Peter in the Hookway days in Tasmania and Northern Australia back in the early eighties. He was a safe and very experienced pilot which leaves the question as to what went wrong?

RIP old mate.

[Deadmanscurve]

I too knew Peter well. There probably wasn't another helicopter pilot in PNG who knew that area and it's weather patterns as well as Peter. I have a very hard time believing it wasn't a mechanical problem.

[p.loco]

Damn, Im in Lae, PNG right now. I fly an R44 Clipper 2 for FFC, a Filipino based fishing company. My job is to spot fish for the catchers out at sea. I never knew this Peter but I did see the BO 105 fly around Lae up the coastline into the mountains.

Condolences to all the friends and relatives.

[Nigel Osborn]

Any official reports in yet as to the cause?

[RVDT]

From the NZ Helicopter Association website there is this preliminary report - P2-RUH (http://www.aia.org.nz/site/aianz/files/NZHA/2011%20news/August/P2-RUH%20Perliminary%20Accident%20Report.pdf)

[gulliBell]

...so it looks like CFIT.

This is what the author of the Preliminary Accident Report had to say:


“I attended the scene personally and the sight was horrific to say the least, something that I will remember for the rest of my life. All indications point to controlled flight into terrain being the primary cause of the accident. This accident really highlights the dangers of flying around in marginal weather conditions. We MUST work together as an industry to mitigate the causes of these kind of accidents before more people die.”

[Waghi Warrior]

Terrible accident.

Incredible how such an experienced pilot come to such a fate. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the autopsy report as it just doesn't make sense to me why the pilot flew at high speed into the terrain.

Good work done by the author of the preliminary report, especially in respect to being able to produce such a factual report in such a short period of time after the accident. I also noticed that the author is a FOI, I didn't think CASA employees done this kind of work, multi skilled I guess.

[Nigel Osborn]

I saw on the TV news this morning that an Australian pilot's body was being flown back to OZ from PNG. I guess that would be Peter; does any one have any funeral details yet?

[Nigel Osborn]

Hi guys, surely some one has details of peter's funeral???