Coroner won't open inquiry into deaths following 2018 Wānaka helicopter crash
A coroner has decided not to open an inquiry into the deaths of three men in a helicopter crash near Wānaka in 2018.
Pilot Nick Wallis and DOC rangers Paul Hondelink and Scott Theobold died when a door opened shortly after take-off and a pair of overalls were sucked into the tail rotor, separating the tail section from the helicopter.
The helicopter, which was en route to a tahr culling operation near Haast, descended quickly and hit the ground.
Coroner Amelia Steel said they died from very high energy impact injuries sustained in the crash.
She was satisfied with the investigations conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority, Transport Accident Investigation Commission and police.
She accepted the expert opinion of cause of death, that the police were satisfied there was no suspicious circumstances, the prosecution of company The Alpine Group, and the recommendations made in the wake of the crash.
"An inquiry will take me no further than the evidence, assessments and recommendations that are already before me," Coroner Steel said.
A report by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, released in June, found a dodgy door latch was likely responsible for the fatal helicopter crash.
The commission said any instance of doors opening in-flight should be reported as it was abnormal and dangerous, and there was a greater risk of it happening if there was unsecured cargo in the cabin.
In 2019, the Civil Aviation Authority filed two charges against The Alpine Group - a family owned business where Wallis was chief executive - under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015.
They related to the company's failure to internally report and investigate the three occasions doors had opened during flight before the crash, and the failure to ensure a safe system to restrain loose items in the aircraft.
The company pleaded guilty to both charges and was sentenced in the Queenstown District Court in 2022, making voluntary payments of $250,000 to the family of each man.
The Alpine Group was also fined $315,000 and ordered to pay the Civil Aviation Authority's costs.
