Murray Sarginson was on trial in the Invercargill District Court yesterday for a crash that occurred in 2016, killing his passenger and business partner, Liam Edwards (32).
Sarginson is being prosecuted by the Civil Aviation Authority, which said there were two failures in his actions: he overloaded the helicopter and flew it in poor visibility.
Sarginson was flying a Robinson R22 helicopter when it crashed in foggy conditions near the Lindis Pass on April 30, 2016. Mr Edwards died soon afterwards and Sarginson was seriously injured.
Cross-examining Sarginson about the weight of his helicopter before the crash, Civil Aviation Authority lawyer Stephanie Bishop asked whether he had "simply tallied everything up'' in his head, rather than calculating the weight using a phone application or calculator.
Sarginson said there was no requirement to do that, so had added the weight in his head.
"As long as I know the weight of what we're carrying, a quick calculation in your head is all you need to do,'' he said.
A pathologist found Mr Edwards was 94kg, a weight his own wife, Jaimee Edwards, agreed on, Ms Bishop said.
However, despite never having weighed Mr Edwards, Sarginson disagreed. He had recorded him as being 180 pounds, or 82kg.
"I don't believe that's correct.
"A couple of times I did ask his weight. His answer was `I'm lighter than you', and I had no reason to believe he wasn't,'' he said.
"There's no way he was 94kg; that's quite huge.''
The weight of his passenger was one of many inconsistencies in Mr Sarginson's calculations, Ms Bishop said.
Sarginson is facing four charges under the Health and Safety at Work Act and one charge under the Civil Aviation Act.
He is also charged under the Civil Aviation Act with operating an aircraft in a manner that exposed a passenger to unnecessary danger.
The trial, which is being heard by Judge Bernadette Farnan, continues today.
