Officer charged over chopper crash

Three men died and one was seriously injured when the RNZAF Iroquois helicopter crashed near Pukerua Bay. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Three men died and one was seriously injured when the RNZAF Iroquois helicopter crashed near Pukerua Bay. Photo / Mark Mitchell
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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