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Helicopter operators worried about ongoing CAA safety

12:15 pm on 12 August 2022

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Helicopter operators are worried the Civil Aviation Authority's safety inspection systems are still not up to scratch, despite the problems being pointed out for decades.


Helicopter operators are worried the Civil Aviation Authority's safety inspection systems are still not up to scratch, despite the problems being pointed out for decades.

The Coroner's report on the deaths of seven people in a helicopter crash on Fox Glacier in 2015 discusses issues with the Authority's inadequate safety inspections saying the same problems had been identified following other fatal crashes. 

The Authority told the inquest it had made changes to its organisational structure, surveillance and the training of regulatory staff.

But the Coroner Marcus Elliott said the Authority had cited the same sorts of changes in the past but the problems remained, and there was not enough evidence for him to determine whether its latest assertions had made a difference. 

The New Zealand Helicopter Association's chair Scott McKenzie spoke to Māni Dunlop about whether the problems were being fixed.