Yet again...R.I.P

[Steve76]

Any further information Ned?
:(
Is this the training R22 out of Tauranga?



One killed in Bay of Plenty helicopter crash

16.05.2004
11.10am
One person is dead after a helicopter crash this morning at Rangiuru, south of Te Puke in the western Bay of Plenty.

The helicopter with two people aboard came down in a paddock just off Young Road about 6.30am.

A man has been taken to hospital with serious injuries.

St John Ambulance area manager Ken Hansen said it was a small helicopter, which was still burning when he arrived.

He said one person died at the scene and a second man was flown to Tauranga Hospital with spinal injuries.

The helicopter may have been on fire before it hit the ground.

[Autorotate]

Just made some phone calls. It was a private owner from Te Puke in an older model 300. Apparently there was some sort of inflight fire and then the engine quit. He got out but his pax was killed.

He was a kiwifruit farmer and was also featured on the vodaphone advertisements here in NZ if you saw them when you were at home.

If I can find out anymore will advise.

Ned

[Time Out]

Pilot survives Bay of Plenty helicopter crash, passenger dies

16.05.2004 5.50pm

UPDATE - Police say it is miraculous the pilot of a helicopter survived a crash which killed his passenger near Te Puke this morning.

The Hughes 300 helicopter crashed just before 7am today. A 47-year-old cameraman, Peter John Harris from Tauranga, was killed, but a passing motorist and a local farmer combined to save the pilot, a 35-year-old local man, from the wreckage.

He is in Tauranga Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

"Given the fact the aircraft was totally destroyed it was incredible anyone survived," Inspector Karl Wright St Clair of the Western Bay police said in a statement.

The helicopter crashed into a paddock near the Rangiuru saleyards. The motorist reported seeing smoke coming from the helicopter while it was in mid-flight, and that it burst into flames shortly before crashing, Mr Wright St Clair said.

"The witness raced to the scene and found the helicopter on fire in the paddock. It was extensively damaged. The motorist found the pilot a short distance from the scene where he had been thrown from the wreckage on impact."

The motorist and a farmer from the neighbouring property dragged the pilot to safety away from the crash scene.

The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating the crash.


Source (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3566658&thesection=news&thesubsection=general)

[ground effect]

My sympathy to all concerned:(

[Bravo 99 (AJB)]

As per ground effect condolancies to those concerned

RIP


Sincerely


Bravo 99 (AJB)