Heliport
12th Apr 2007, 06:45
From the Nelson MailHelicopter worries dismissed: witness
A former aircraft engineer with Nelson company Skytech Aviation says he was told not to be a such a "worrywart" when he noticed the re-assembled tail section of a helicopter looked odd days before it crashed.
Skytech Aviation (2003) Ltd owner and managing director John Arthur Horrell, 56, of Nelson, and licensed aircraft maintenance engineer Ronald David Potts, 59, of Mapua, are charged with the manslaughter of pilot Phillip Devon Heney.
Mr Heney was killed and passenger Hamish Teddy seriously injured when the Robinson R22 spun out of control and crashed on Mr Heney's farm near Murchison on August 26, 2005 as it was coming in to land.
Mr Heney had collected the helicopter that day from Skytech, where it had a service, annual inspection, and replacement of the tail rotor drive shaft, rotor blades and aft flexplate coupling.
A depositions hearing resumed in the Nelson District Court on Tuesday, after being adjourned in February.
The charges allege a lack of supervision when critical control system components were installed in the helicopter at Skytech.
A Civil Aviation Authority investigator previously told the court how incorrect assembly of the coupling is believed to have led to other parts of the tail section failing, causing the crash.
Former Skytech aircraft engineer Ross Burdon told the court on Tuesday he was not a qualified engineer but worked on the R22. He said Potts, who worked part-time for Skytech, was his direct supervisor but also worked for Air Nelson, so would pop into Skytech periodically most days to check on maintenance progress.
The court has heard that aircraft maintenance relating to human safety and completed by unlicensed engineers must be directly supervised by a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer holding a rating for the aircraft type.
Because of difficulties fitting the R22's drive shaft into the tail boom, it had to be put in and taken out several times, but Mr Burdon told Crown prosecutor Nicole Dore he believed another engineer, Bradley Maas, did the final assembly of the flexplate coupling. Mr Maas has denied that.
Mr Burdon said Potts, who was the certifying engineer for the R22 work, was not present during the final assembly of the tail section but inspected the coupling through a small inspection hole in the tail boom.
When they were checking the R22 before Mr Heney collected it, Mr Burdon noticed that "it looked funny", so Potts looked over the helicopter again.
"He said it was fine and not to be such a worrywart."
Mr Burdon told Ms Dore that Potts offered good advice but he was not satisfied with Potts' supervision, which he described as fragmented.
"John said that everything we were doing was above board - it wasn't necessary to have someone there all day every day. It was necessary to have stage inspections done and they will."
The day the R22 crashed Mr Burdon received a contract for a new job in Auckland. He left Skytech because he felt he was not progressing.
"I also wasn't happy with some of the decisions being made relating to maintenance practices."
Mr Burdon said that before they put the helicopter back together he had telephoned Horrell, who was working at Air Nelson, to find out how much of the R22 they could reassemble, and Horrell said to assemble as much as he could with Mr Maas helping him, and that Potts was happy for everything to be put back together.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
Posted for info.
There's a court case going on: Be very careful what you post.
A former aircraft engineer with Nelson company Skytech Aviation says he was told not to be a such a "worrywart" when he noticed the re-assembled tail section of a helicopter looked odd days before it crashed.
Skytech Aviation (2003) Ltd owner and managing director John Arthur Horrell, 56, of Nelson, and licensed aircraft maintenance engineer Ronald David Potts, 59, of Mapua, are charged with the manslaughter of pilot Phillip Devon Heney.
Mr Heney was killed and passenger Hamish Teddy seriously injured when the Robinson R22 spun out of control and crashed on Mr Heney's farm near Murchison on August 26, 2005 as it was coming in to land.
Mr Heney had collected the helicopter that day from Skytech, where it had a service, annual inspection, and replacement of the tail rotor drive shaft, rotor blades and aft flexplate coupling.
A depositions hearing resumed in the Nelson District Court on Tuesday, after being adjourned in February.
The charges allege a lack of supervision when critical control system components were installed in the helicopter at Skytech.
A Civil Aviation Authority investigator previously told the court how incorrect assembly of the coupling is believed to have led to other parts of the tail section failing, causing the crash.
Former Skytech aircraft engineer Ross Burdon told the court on Tuesday he was not a qualified engineer but worked on the R22. He said Potts, who worked part-time for Skytech, was his direct supervisor but also worked for Air Nelson, so would pop into Skytech periodically most days to check on maintenance progress.
The court has heard that aircraft maintenance relating to human safety and completed by unlicensed engineers must be directly supervised by a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer holding a rating for the aircraft type.
Because of difficulties fitting the R22's drive shaft into the tail boom, it had to be put in and taken out several times, but Mr Burdon told Crown prosecutor Nicole Dore he believed another engineer, Bradley Maas, did the final assembly of the flexplate coupling. Mr Maas has denied that.
Mr Burdon said Potts, who was the certifying engineer for the R22 work, was not present during the final assembly of the tail section but inspected the coupling through a small inspection hole in the tail boom.
When they were checking the R22 before Mr Heney collected it, Mr Burdon noticed that "it looked funny", so Potts looked over the helicopter again.
"He said it was fine and not to be such a worrywart."
Mr Burdon told Ms Dore that Potts offered good advice but he was not satisfied with Potts' supervision, which he described as fragmented.
"John said that everything we were doing was above board - it wasn't necessary to have someone there all day every day. It was necessary to have stage inspections done and they will."
The day the R22 crashed Mr Burdon received a contract for a new job in Auckland. He left Skytech because he felt he was not progressing.
"I also wasn't happy with some of the decisions being made relating to maintenance practices."
Mr Burdon said that before they put the helicopter back together he had telephoned Horrell, who was working at Air Nelson, to find out how much of the R22 they could reassemble, and Horrell said to assemble as much as he could with Mr Maas helping him, and that Potts was happy for everything to be put back together.
The hearing continues on Wednesday.
Posted for info.
There's a court case going on: Be very careful what you post.