Eurocopter AS350 B2 had been improperly loaded before it struck a snow-covered mountain slope as the pilot attempted to deliver a group of skiers to the top of several ski runs in New Zealand’s Mount Aspiring National Park, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) says.
One of the skiers was killed in the Aug. 14, 2016, accident, after he was trapped beneath the wreckage, and the other six occupants of the helicopter experienced moderate to serious injuries, the TAIC said in its final report, published in December 2017. The helicopter was destroyed.
The TAIC’s investigation identified two safety issues: “that the operator’s standard operating procedures did not require its pilots to routinely calculate the performance capabilities of their helicopters for the intended flights” and “that there was a risk of not knowing an aircraft’s capability when using standard passenger weights, and therefore of pilots operating close to the limits of their aircraft…
