A
Royal New Zealand Defence Force officer has been charged in
relation to a fatal Iroquois helicopter crash on the Kapiti
Coast on Anzac day, 2010.
The formation leader has been charged with negligently
failing to perform a duty contrary to section 73(1) of the
Armed Forces Discipline Act 1971.
The charge did not allege the accident was directly caused by
this omission, the Defence Force said.
Three air force staff were killed and one critically injured
when their helicopter crashed in thick fog into the side of a
hill at Pukerua Bay.
The officer was in command of a formation near Paraparaumu.
He had been accused of negligently failing to abort the
mission of the formation when the weather conditions
deteriorated below the required minimum levels, which was his
duty as formation leader.
A formal investigation under the Armed Forces Discipline Act
1971 is scheduled to take place next month (April 4).
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