ASN Wikibase Occurrence # 145760
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| Date: | Monday 21 May 2012 |
| Time: | 12:33 LT |
| Type: |  Hughes 369D |
| Owner/operator: | Way to Go Heliservices Ltd. |
| Registration: | ZK-HXZ |
| MSN: | 117-0233D |
| Year of manufacture: | 1978 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 1 / Occupants: 1 |
| Aircraft damage: | Destroyed |
| Category: | Accident |
| Location: | Lake Sumner, Canterbury -
 New Zealand
|
| Phase: | Manoeuvring (airshow, firefighting, ag.ops.) |
| Nature: | Agricultural |
| Departure airport: | |
| Investigating agency: | CAA NZ |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information verified through data from accident investigation authorities |
The helicopter crashed into an isolated lake in north Canterbury on Monday 21 May 2012.
The helicopter was one of two Rangiora-based Hughes 500s spraying gorse for the Department of Conservation. When one failed to return just before 3pm, the pilot of the other helicopter returned to the scene and spotted wreckage in the lake. The helicopter, with Rangiora pilot Michael Graeme Mehrtens aboard, is thought to be at the bottom of Lake Sumner (12m deep), about 140km northwest of Christchurch. The area is part of the Lake Sumner Conservation Park.
NZ CAA concluded CFIT occurred at some speed.
The investigation found that it was most likely that the pilot experienced some form of spatial disorientation with elements of somatogravic illusion and height perception illusion. This resulted in inadvertently flying a shallow descending flight path.
Accident investigation:
 |
|
Sources:
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10807361
http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/regional/106342/helicopter-crashes-into-north-canterbury-lake
http://www.caa.govt.nz/Accidents_and_Incidents/Accident_Reports/ZK-HXZ_Fatal.pdf
Images:
Rangiora 6Jan2011
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 21-May-2012 00:58 | gerard57 | Added |
| 21-May-2012 04:11 | Anon. | Updated [Aircraft type, Source, Narrative] |
| 22-May-2012 02:33 | flyernzl | Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator] |
| 23-May-2012 08:43 | gerard57 | Updated [Damage, Narrative] |
| 16-Aug-2014 11:47 | Aerossurance | Updated [Time, Location, Source, Narrative] |
| 17-Jul-2020 23:48 | Ron Averes | Updated [Aircraft type] |
| 04-Feb-2022 22:34 | Ron Averes | Updated [Location] |
Corrections or additions? ... Edit this accident description
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