Pilot praised for landing skills
Two men walked away from a helicopter accident near Mt Campbell virtually unscratched due to the skill of the pilot's emergency landing.
The Robinson 22 helicopter was about 15 metres off the ground when it lost power at 1.50pm yesterday and chief flying instructor Phil Casey quickly took over control of the two-seater helicopter, said Motueka's Nelson Aviation College chief executive Giles Witney.
He was able to manoeuvre the helicopter close to the mountain site from where it had just taken off and avoid trees as he brought it back to land.
"That was fantastic flying and I think that's why both men are as well as they are today," said Mr Witney. "It was an outstanding effort to get it back and cushion the impact."
The aircraft landed the right way up but the left skid hit a rock that rolled it onto its side, so it ended up on a boulder the size of the helicopter.
The boulder cracked the aircraft's canopy and bent its blades but the only injury was a cut to the hand of the helicopter's owner, a Nelson Aviation College student whose name has not been released.
The two men were on their second training flight yesterday of an advanced mountain flying skills course, practising flying and landing in difficult terrain about four minutes' flight from Motueka. It was the first day of advanced training for the student, a 33-year-old Queenstown man who earned his private pilot's licence about 18 months ago and was about 60 flight hours away from earning his commercial licence.
Mr Witney said it was highly likely the helicopter had had a mechanical malfunction that caused it to lose power. The helicopter will be airlifted from the accident site today by a Hughes 500 helicopter and will be inspected by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Summit Rescue Helicopter pilot Tim Douglas-Clifford said its helicopter was sent to shuttle the trainee pilot and instructor back to Nelson Aviation College in Motueka. The rescue helicopter took a police officer, an intensive care paramedic and a winch operator. The helicopter was able to land in a clearing at an altitude of about 1300m to pick up the trainee pilot and instructor.
Hughes 500 Helicopter - News
Mr Witney said it was highly likely the helicopter had had a mechanical malfunction that caused it to lose power. The helicopter will be airlifted from the accident site today by a Hughes 500 helicopter and will be inspected by the Civil Aviation
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This 2006 file photograph shows members of the US private security company Blackwater aboard a Hughes 500 helicopter securing the way of a US convoy in Baghdad. (Patrick Baz/AFP/Getty Images) Blackwater Worldwide, the mercenary group
They said they were about to land the privately-owned Hughes 500 chopper but could not pull it out of a right-hand turn. The chopper ''broke up'' after it spiralled downward and struck a log on the ground. The helicopter cabin and the men inside were
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Variants : MD 500 Defender, MD Helicopters MD 600
The successful Hughes 500/MD 500 series began life in response to a US Army requirement for a light observation helicopter. Hughes announced it was developing a civil version, to be marketed as the Hughes 500, available in basic five and seven seat configurations. A utility version with a more powerful engine was offered as the 500U.
in 1976 Hughes 500D became the primary model with a more powerful engine, new five-blade main rotor and a T-tail(four-blade tail rotor was optional). Military variants are marketed under the MD 500 Defender name.
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The MD Helicopters MD 500 series is an American family of light utility civilian and ... The MD 500 was developed from the Hughes 500, a civilian version of ...
Hughes Helicopters - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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