Originally Posted by
KiwiNedNZ
... They operate from the ticket booth pad every day - its NOTHING NEW.
Actually it's a little bit new, The northern "in park" pad was deactivated in 2019 when the new 4 pad area in the carpark was opened hence the "X in google maps.
It was reopened in march last year to allow visitors to take flights without leaving the park again.
As noted the flights predominately took off to the south and approached from the west / north west.
In the AS350s and other Right seat types that allowed good visibility for the departing aircraft from the northern pad to sight approaching aircraft and avoid them.
With the newer EC130 as Left seat only types that caused more problems with visibility, when operating form the 4 pad area that's not an issue, you are coming and going from the same area, easier to see and avoid.
In theory the more limited visibility should be mitigated by the approaching aircraft having better visibility on the left but as can be seen in the video in this case it seems that while the approaching pilot did briefly look slightly down and to the left he didn't sight the aircraft that was departing, seemingly behind his A pillar.
Also for those debating whether you can see the departing helicopter in the cockpit video I think that shows the difficulty the approaching pilot would have had spotting a dark helicopter against the shadowed area behind it.
What can be seen clearly in that video is the shadow of the departing helicopter over the northern pad as it moves off the pad.
You can also see the approaching pilot talking, presumably making a call, just after he looks down and to the left.
My speculation is he is attempting to confirm the location of the departing aircraft after hearing a departing call and not being able to sight the aircraft where he expected it.
So to me the hey holes in the cheese are
1. Reactivation of the northern pad
2. New LH seat aircraft with less visibility to the right
Especially if procedures weren't updated to allow for 1 and 2