3 News:
Chopper pilot keen to finish Viaduct job
By Amanda Gillies
The Auckland pilot who walked away from a helicopter crash at the Viaduct does not remember a thing, saying he blacked out.
Greg Gribble was saved by his seatbelt, which dragged him back into the aircraft seconds before it plunged into the ground.
His million dollar helicopter has been written off yet he has just a tiny scratch on his finger.
He is now keen to go back and finish the job and says he is feeling “alive”.
“Very grateful. And very grateful nobody else got hurt. That's the main thing,” says Mr Girbble.
How nobody got hurt is difficult to fathom.
He does not remember being half-flung out of his chopper or the moment it slammed into the ground but he has watched footage many times.
He is too terrified to think how close he came to the rotor blades.
“If I had gone out and stayed out here, I’d have been cut to shreds.”
Trouble started a moment after Mr Gribble released a light cable hooked on to the bottom of the aircraft. A grounds man pulled the cable, which was the plan, but somehow something went haywire. He hasn’t been able to get in touch with the grounds man.
“I've tried to get hold of him. But I think he's in a bit of shell shock as well.”
They were half way through what should have been a “relatively easy job'”, lifting a Christmas tree into place at Auckland’s Viaduct. He's prepared to go back to finish the job.
“They might not want me back. I don't have a problem going back there but they probably won't have me back.”
Mr Gribble has been flying choppers for 20 years. He bought his Squirrel about eight years ago. It has always been his baby and always had a clean bill of health. But now it has been written off. It costs about $1.5 million dollars and thankfully he is insured.
He will be back flying on Monday in the company's other chopper. But first he will spend the weekend fishing and will buy a lotto ticket.
I know I was praising the crewie before, but it is looking increasingly more like his 'little pull' on the line may have been a 'little mistake'
Mind you the clearances shouldn't have been that tight, in a perfect world
