From stuff.co.nz:
"Aviators defend crashed helicopter
06 March 2006
By DEBBIE JAMIESON, JOANNA DAVIS and DAN EATON
A helicopter crash near Wanaka which killed two men yesterday has thrown a fresh spotlight on the safety of the widely-used Robinson 22 they were flying.
High winds hampered police efforts to recover the bodies of two men killed in the mid-morning crash in Mount Aspiring National Park, on Homestead Peak.
The men have not been formally identified, but the pilot is believed to be a Canadian, aged in his 20s and living in the Wanaka area, and his passenger a visitor from overseas.
They had privately hired the Robinson 22 (R22) helicopter from Wanaka Helicopters. The weather in the area was hot and calm in the morning.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has investigated at least 13 crashes involving Robinson R22 helicopters since 1989. Those crashes resulted in 12 deaths.
Yesterday, helicopter operators said the R22 was reliable.
Detective Derek Shaw, of the Wanaka police, said three officers and four members of the Wanaka Alpine Cliff Rescue Team fought developing strong winds to remove the men's bodies from the steep Homestead Peak.
The crash was first noticed after a farmer went to investigate a fire at about 11am. The fire covered about 0.5ha, Shaw said.
"The aircraft has been destroyed either by a combination of the fire or impact or both. It was an unsurvivable crash."
The rescue team used safety lines to work on the site, about 1500m above sea level.
There was no obvious indication of what caused the crash, he said.
"We've recovered the bodies and secured the scene as best we can. We've prepared it for a CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) investigation. We expect them to get here tomorrow," he said.
Wanaka Helicopters director Simon Spencer Bower said the dead pilot had previously flown with his company to gain his commercial licence. He had accumulated 100 hours of flying time towards the 150 hours necessary.
The man was well known to Wanaka Helicopters instructors because they had all flown with him.
"He was a very confident pilot and a high achiever," Spencer Bower said.
"He'd achieved far more in his 100 hours than many others, including passing all his theory exams."
The man was taking a friend for a local mountain flight when the accident happened, Spencer Bower said.
Wanaka Helicopters suspended flights yesterday.
Spencer Bower had not decided whether to fly today.
The accident was "devastating" to the company.
"It's the first fatal accident we've ever had in 26 years of operation," he said.
Spencer Bower would not speculate on the cause of the crash. He had absolutely no concerns about the reliability of the Robinson 22 helicopter involved.
"It's the world's most reliable helicopter. They are a wonderful little machine."
John Aspinall, of Mount Aspiring Station, said staff at the Wanaka Aerodrome had called him to confirm a report of a fire on the peak.
Aspinall said he drove up the valley about 5km and could see a fire. He reported it to the Department of Conservation, which sent a helicopter with a monsoon bucket just after midday.
It was then they found a crashed helicopter.
"It's about a two-hour climb from the valley floor, but it is steep terrain and quite rugged."It's getting to a level with the wind where a pilot would have to be very careful," he said.
Last night, South Island helicopter operators rejected suggestions the R22 was a bad machine.
Christchurch Helicopters operations manager Andrew Reid said the fact R22s were involved in many accidents was "just a numbers game".
"There are more of them and they are more likely to be flown by less experienced pilots," he said. "It's an exceptionally well-engineered machine and is probably one of the world's most reliable helicopters. It's just nonsense to say that they fall out of the sky."
Christchurch Helicopters operated four R22 helicopters, clocking between 600 and 700 hours a year each for pilot training, aerial photography and agricultural work.
Reid said Spencer Bower was "probably the world's most experienced R22 instructor"..
Mountain flying was unforgiving, Reid said. "Mountain flying is an exacting discipline. It involves caution and requires a lot of training and experience and quite frankly it's not something you could ever claim to be an expert at."
Garden City Helicopters general manager Simon Duncan said his company flew R22s and considered them completely reliable.
"The Robinson does seem to get its fair share of knockers, but we will continue to operate them and we have every faith in them."
Stringent safety requirements made the aircraft safe, Duncan said. Operators were obliged to inspect the R22 every 50 flying hours and to overhaul it every 2200 hours.
Duncan said pilot error was usually the cause of accidents involving the R22"