Didn't happen.
Witness claims chopper winch 'drops' doctor - Queenstown News
Paul Taylor15 Dec 2011
Rescuers claim a doctor was dropped when a helicopter winch failed during an operation to save an injured hunter.
Members of the Queenstown Alpine Cliff Rescue team say the medic was a few metres above the ground when the cable on the winch snapped. Any higher and he could have been killed, they say.
Their version of events contradicts the official report submitted to authorities.
Lakes District Air Rescue Trust (LDART) – the body which organises Queenstown’s helicopter rescues – has submitted reports stating the doctor was on the ground at the time and the winch mechanism jammed rather than snapped.
The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the incident, which occurred during a dramatic night-time search and rescue operation at Sawyer’s Creek, near Skippers Canyon.
It has deemed the incident “critical” due to the potential injury to the doctor, who was not hurt.
Senior rescuer Rupert Gardiner, 31, says: “He was a couple of metres above the ground. He was being lowered back down because he had got caught up in the trees.
“The cable snapped, completely.”
“The winch failed and he fell probably two metres down to the ground.
“We weren’t right underneath but we were quite close.
“It was unnerving, absolutely, seeing him come down. I didn’t feel like getting on a winch after that.”
Queenstown Alpine Cliff Rescue senior trainer Chris Prudden, who didn’t attend, adds: “I was told there was a complete failure, the cable let go and he fell to the ground.
“The other statement I heard was that if he was higher he would have been dead.”
The rescue operation was launched to save a Christchurch hunter with life-threatening injuries.
The 30-year-old had suf***fered a compound fracture of the left femur falling from a waterfall – which means the broken bone had pierced through the skin.
His friend raised the alarm and a Southern Lakes Heli*copters Squirrel air*craft, piloted by experienced rescue pilot Richard ‘Hannibal’ Hayes, flew in from Te Anau.
The Te Anau chopper – the nearest with a winch covering the Queenstown area – arrived on scene, near Crystal Hut about 3km from Skippers Bridge, at midnight on October 23.
It flew back to its Te Anau base after the winch failed to fit a replacement and returned about an hour later to extract the casualty and doctor from the difficult terrain.
LDART has submitted reports to the CAA, the Department of Labour and the Accident Compensation Corporation.
Tony Hill, LDART executive secretary, says: “It is quite clear in the report, which the doctor completed, that he didn’t drop to the ground.
“They had lowered him back to the ground so they could move the helicopter more directly above to stop the pendulum effect.
“The next thing the winch malfunctioned so they weren’t able to pull them back up. At this stage they were on the ground.
“I’m totally comfortable with the comments that the cable didn’t snap and the doctor didn’t fall.
“The cable did not snap. It won’t snap – it’s bloody thick. That’s absolutely in**correct. The winch mech*anism failed.
“I wasn’t there and I’m only telling you what has gone to Government. So if he wants to dispute that he’ll have to take it up with the doctor.
“For his own privacy he has asked not to be named.”
Hill says Hayes, who was unavailable for comment, is the most qualified rescue pilot in New Zealand with 40 years’ experience and was supported by an experienced winch man.
Lloyd Matheson, Southern Lakes operations manager, says: “I’m not in a position to make any comment to any media if there is an official investigation underway.
“I’ll leave it to the CAA to deal with.”
The winch has been taken to Auckland for tests.
The casualty, stabilised by the doctor and given morphine for pain, eventually arrived at Southland Hospital at 5am the next morning – 10 hours after the fall. He’s believed to have undergone surgery and is recovering well.
Three members of the Queenstown-based Alpine Cliff Rescue team assisted in the operation.