Survival tale from horror crash
www.nzoom.com
An amazing tale of survival has emerged from the horror plunge of a helicopter.
A Te Puke hunter has endured two days in the bush, after being injured in a helicopter crash that left two men dead.
He escaped the crash, which claimed the lives of two others.
The crash occurred in the dense forest 20 kilometres north of lake Waikaremoana, near Wairoa on the North Island's East Coast.
Barry Watkins says he is feeling pretty good considering what he has been through.
Watkins and his best mate went hunting on the weekend.
A helicopter flown by another friend, Tony Worsfold, was supposed to lift them out on Monday, but three days later Barry Watkins was carried out of the bush alone.
"It hit a tree and went down, I've lost two good mates," says Watkins.
The conditions near the crash site, deep in the Urewera national park are very dangerous.
"For two days the helicopter could not get into the area because of the weather.. that day was the first available.. for him to get in," says Jim Mclean from the national rescue co-ordination centre.
Low level thick cloud may also have contributed to the crash.
"It's possibly weather related, but we've really got no idea," says rescue pilot Ron Taylor.
Covered in soot from the fire which engulfed the chopper, Watkins was otherwise unscathed, kicking himself free from the wreckage.
"I've got a sore back and chest," he says.
The other un-named hunter was killed in the burning wreckage.
The pilot was thrown free and he survived the crash, but died later in the bush.
After escaping death in the crash, Watkins then focussed on survival.
"He kicked free from it and built a wee bivee where he stayed the night," says paramedic Dennis Turner.
The helicopter was a four seater Robinson r-44.
The civil aviation authority says the family of aircraft is New Zealand's most popular, with 103 flying here.
There have been 18 robinson crashes since 1985, resulting in 23 deaths.
Foul weather has so far prevented air accident investigators from getting to the scene.
While pilot Tony Worsfold's base remains abandoned, with the landing pad empty.
Published on Dec 05, 2001
My condolences to Tony's partner and team at
Rotorua...
[ 05 December 2001: Message edited by: Cypher ]