Copter legend faces tough penalties
28 May 2006
By MARY JANE BOLAND
A Central Otago pilot involved in a hunting trip which left an American tourist dead faces forfeiture of his helicopter and property after a court conviction for stealing greenstone.
Makarora pilot Harvey Hutton will be sentenced in Dunedin District Court on Tuesday after last year being found guilty of stealing more than 10,000kg of greenstone from Ngai Tahu property on the West Coast between 1997 and 2004.
Crown solicitor Robin Bates said he would be seeking forfeiture of Hutton's chopper and property under proceeds of crime laws.
Hutton's lawyer, Colin Withnall, QC, said it was inappropriate to comment before sentencing.
Hutton is something of a legend in Central Otago. He has run hunting trips for 30 years, and operates several tourism ventures - including jetboating - from Makarora, 65km north of Wanaka. His helicopter hunting expeditions go into remote alpine terrain.
Police are investigating Monday's hunting trip, in which New Hampshire plumbing company owner Clifford Wayne Senter, 57, died after he slipped about 300m down a cliff in Mt Aspiring National Park.
Police are trying to clarify whether Senter slipped as he was getting out of the chopper, piloted by Hutton, or after he was on the ground.
AdvertisementAdvertisementHutton's wife, Patsy, said her husband had nothing to say about the Crown's attempts to claim his helicopter and their property.
Civil Aviation Authority safety investigator Harold Carter hoped to receive more information from police this week to determine if his agency needed to investigate. It depended on whether Senter was on the helicopter when he slipped. If the CAA investigated, it would assess whether the spot was suitable for a helicopter to set down passengers.
Johnston said the area where the helicopter landed was rugged alpine terrain.
Senter's close friend, Nelson Rapanot, was in the helicopter when the accident occurred.
He and Senter, and their wives, were on their first trip to New Zealand.
Speaking from Plaistow, New Hampshire, Senter's sister-in-law Sandra Senter said Rapanot had told them it was slippery in the area because of snow and recent rain.
"The wind rocked the helicopter a little bit and he lost his footing. (Nelson) tried to grab him and his fingers slipped through him."
The family did not blame anyone for the death, she said. "Accidents happen for whatever reason... Cliffy had been hunting for long enough that he wouldn't have let them do something unsafe."
Clifford and Linda Senter had travelled the world on golf and hunting expeditions, bringing home many hunting trophies.
He had a room dedicated to his hunting trophies and had already caught a thar in New Zealand which he planned to mount on a wall alongside the chamois he and Rapanot were chasing when the accident happened.
Sandra Senter said Clifford Senter's wife Linda had been unable to talk since the accident