A man died in a helicopter crash in remote terrain about 10km from Reefton last evening.
News website Stuff today named him as Reefton man Noel Edward Wilson, known as Grumbles.
Investigators will consider whether 'mast bump' was a factor in the crash of the Robinson R22.
The machine's emergency beacon was activated about 6pm yesterday. The weather was sunny at the time.
The NZCC Rescue Helicopter found the wreckage and the sole occupant dead at the scene.
Police said they were working to confirm the identity of the crash victim.
The Rescue Co-ordination Centre says it was not yet clear whether the beacon went off automatically, or if it was activated by the pilot before he died.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission added Robinson helicopters to its watchlist in October, after 18 people died over the past 20 years in crashes caused by rotor blades hitting the masts.
Spokesman Roger Foley said the R22 was one of three Robinson models under investigation.
The rescue helicopter was called about 7.30pm.
Police were at the scene this morning, and described it as a remote hilly area 9-10km north-north-east of Reefton township.
In a statement they said they believed the person killed in the crash was the helicopter pilot. They did not say what the helicopter was doing in the area.
The Greymouth Star reported in November that four of 18 New Zealand Robinson helicopter 'mast bump' fatalities were on the West Coast or involved West Coast pilots.
Mast bump is contact between an inner part of a main rotor blade or a rotor hub and the main rotor drive shaft, or 'mast'. The outcome is usually catastrophic.
The Department of Conservation suspended the use of all Robinson helicopters to transport DOC staff, volunteers and contractors in November.
Three of the mast bump incidents identified by the TAIC were tied to the West Coast, claiming four lives:
- Robinson R22 Beta ZK-HEZ, near Fox Glacier, January 2002. The CAA report at the time was inconclusive. The victims were pilot Barry Graham Guise, of Lake
- Paringa, and shooter Geoffrey John Rodger, of Jackson Bay.
- Robinson R44 Helicopter ZK-HBQ, in-flight break-up, Kahurangi National Park, October 2014. This investigation remains open. The victim was Damian Webster.
Robinson R22 Alpha ZK-HXR, through loss of control, Lake Wanaka, November 2008. Haast pilot Morgan Saxton was texting shortly before the crash. The wreckage showed that a mast bump had occurred prior to the helicopter hitting the water.
- by Laura Mills
-- Additional reporting Newstalk ZB
