Wife's wait for call that never came
13.01.2004
By JO-MARIE BROWN
When helicopter pilot Chris Barns failed to call his wife, Jill, to say he had landed safely, she began to worry.
The 50-year-old rally driver and international jetsprint champion always phoned their Rotorua home after each flight to say he was okay, but as darkness fell on Saturday there was still no word.
Sick with worry, Mrs Barns raised the alarm and up to a dozen helicopters took to the sky the following day to search for her husband and his passenger, Kim Austin, 45, of Tauranga, who ran a fishing charter company on Lake Taupo.
"I just stood by the phone the whole time. We were really hopeful that he was just stuck somewhere, waiting to be found," Mrs Barns said.
Daughter Michelle, 28, even envisaged her father as the sort who would walk out of the wreckage if there had been an accident.
But yesterday morning the search, which had stretched over 2800sq km, came to an end when a fertiliser contractor stumbled upon the crumpled Robinson R22 helicopter in a paddock at Aratiatia, about 10km northeast of Taupo.
Neither Mr Barns nor his passenger had survived.
A search team had flown over the area late on Sunday afternoon but were believed to have mistaken the small pile of wreckage for a log.
Civil Aviation Authority safety investigator Tom McCready examined the scene yesterdayand said any number of thingscould have caused the three-year-old helicopter to crash.
"You can go from pilot incapacitation through to mechanical failure or perhaps a controlling error. At this stage, it's far too early to jump to conclusions."
Mr Barns' friends and colleagues believe the chopper probably broke up in midair as debris was scattered over a wide area. The machine came to rest upside down, gouging a small crater.
There have been at least 23 other accidents involving R22 helicopters since 2000, two of which have also claimed lives.
Mr McCready said the two-seater helicopters were extremely popular and were as mechanically sound as any other make or model.
"I wouldn't read too much into the fact that it's a Robinson. It's just that there's a lot of them."
Mr Barns' business, Priceright Parts and Machinery, services equipment for the logging industry.
He told his wife before Saturday's flight that he was going to check a piece of machinery.
Mr Austin, his long-time friend and a fellow rally driver, agreedto accompany him and they tookoff from Taupo airfield at 11.17am and were understood to havebeen heading to Te Puke.
Yesterday, the family and friends of both men were struggling to come to grips with the tragedy.
Mrs Barns and her four daughters, aged 31, 28, 27 and 25, said Mr Barns loved his sport and had always wanted to drive a rally car and fly a helicopter.
"He was very good at anything he tried and he lived life to the fullest," his wife said. "He really enjoyed his helicopter. He was so careful and so particular."
Mr Barns turned 50 just before Christmas but had decided to put off the celebrations until the New Year to get away from the busy season.
He took up jetsprinting in 1996 and was ranked second in the world in the superboat class.
Those involved in the high-speed sport were also mourning him.
"He just jumped in a boat and won his first event," said Mrs Barns.
He had taken up jetsprinting because it was less time-consuming and would give him more time with his family.
The president of the International Jetsprinting Federation, Eryn Moore, yesterday described Mr Barns as a "fussy professional".
"He loved to go fast but everything had to be right and he very rarely made a mistake. To think that something has gone wrong like this is quite devastating."
Mr Moore said Mr Barns had helped many people who had been fired by his enthusiasm.
"There were so many people he helped out along the way. It's being felt around the world."
Members of Mr Austin's family did not wish to speak publicly yesterday but Mr Moore said the rally driver, who had three teenage children, was also a "full of life sort of guy".
"The fact that they're gone hasn't even begun to sink in yet."