Helicopter Crash Inquest Held

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 1, Issue 4, 28 June 1983, Page 8

Helicopter Crash Inquest Held

The inquest into the deaths of five people in the helicopter accident on 9 December 1982 was conducted by the District Coroner, Mr G.W. Harvey of Raetihi, in the Ohakune District Court last Thursday afternoon. Describing it as a 'tragic accident which caused the deaths of five local citizens' he held the inquest in a crowded courtroom with friends and relatives of those who had died, present. It was found that the 5 people who died, William

Tidward Cooper, Keith Maurice Blumhardt, Derek Ian White, Pauline Maria Williams and Douglas Neil McKenzie all died as a result of multiple injuries sustained on the night of Thursday 9 December when a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter belonging to Wanganui Aero Works ' crashed into Mt Ruapehu. Evidence was given at the inquest by Robert Knowles Donald, loader driver of Raetihi employed by Wanganui Aero Works, Charles George Anderson, pilot employed by Wanganui Aero works, and

Constable Marty Sutherland who was resident policeman at Raetihi at the time of the accident and who co-ordinated the search and recovery operation on the night of the tragedy. The families of Derek White and Maria Williams were represented by Mr Alan Horner, a solicitor from Hawera where the Williams family reside. The Inspector of Air Accidents report on the cause of the tragedy is not yet available and it may b|A some time before it is.