Unexplained crashes by Robinson helicopters justify a decision to put them on a safety watchlist, a former Civil Aviation Authority inspector says.
Tom McCready, who is now an independent air accident investigator, said Robinson operators would be upset by last week’s decision by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC).
He told the Otago Daily Times Robinsons were "perfectly good machines in benign conditions".
"But what’s concerning everybody are these unexplained, mid-air break-ups," he said.
The TAIC announced a week ago that Robinsons — which make up about 40% of the national helicopter fleet — had been added to its watchlist of "pressing concerns".
The TAIC and the CAA have investigated 14 "mast bumping" accidents involving Robinsons — killing 18 people after in-flight break-ups — in the past 20 years.
The aircraft’s safety has been thrown further into the spotlight by the deaths of two forestry workers in a Robinson R44 crash in Northland on Monday and the Department of Conservation’s announcement on Wednesday it would forbid staff, volunteers and contractors from using Robinsons because of safety concerns.
Mr McCready said Doc’s decision was a "pretty big call", but suspected new health and safety legislation was a factor.
The Health and Safety at Work Act, which came into effect in April, had put many managers "on edge" because they were now personally liable for the safety of their workers. The TAIC was not saying Robinsons were dangerous, but was "raising the point there are quite a few unknowns", he said.
"They’ve just heightened the awareness. Unfortunately that can be misinterpreted by all sorts of people, including by the travelling public."
He assumed Doc had come to its decision after consulting aviation experts.
"I hope they’ve taken good advice, but even if they haven’t it’s their prerogative."
Although the TAIC’s decision was appropriate, it, the CAA and the Robinson Helicopter Company needed to do more work on the causes of unknown crashes, he said. The TAIC could now justify putting more of its resources into investigating Robinson crashes, for example into forensic engineering analysis. The Otago Daily Times contacted all helicopter operators in the Queenstown-Lakes area this week for comment on heightened public awareness of Robinsons’ safety. Most either failed to return calls or said they did not wish to comment.
One operator, speaking on condition of anonymity, said its Robinson R44 was a vital part of its fleet and a "fantastic machine" in the right conditions. If the weather was not suitable, it had the option of using its bigger helicopters.
Although aware of heightened public concern about Robinsons’ safety, the company was not considering taking its R44 out of service "at the moment".
