Chopper outfit wants proof on goggles

Helicopter company Helipro is taking legal action against Northland's rescue helicopter boss John Bain, demanding vital paperwork for night-vision goggles or a refund of the $35,000 it paid him for the equipment.
As the goggles are also supplied to the US military, they are a restricted export from that country with strict conditions around who can buy them.
Night-vision goggles bought by Mr Bain and used by the Northland Emergency Services Trust are being checked to see if they are among sets which the US claims were stolen from a military base and sold to countries including New Zealand.
Mr Bain sold four more pairs of the hi-tech goggles that turn night into day - two sets each to Helipro and the Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust.
Mr Bain has said he bought the goggles from Auckland entrepreneur Will Jeffery who had found the goggles for sale on internet auction site ebay.
Earlier this week Mr Bain said Mr Jeffery had been led to believe the goggles were surplus from a Miami training school. "If we had thought they were stolen Will wouldn't have touched them and neither would I," Mr Bain said.
When contacted by The Northern Advocate yesterday and asked about the Helipro action, Mr Bain would not comment, saying: "I've got no time".
Helipro chief executive Rick Lucas said the business paid Mr Bain $35,004.84 for two sets of goggles in September last year, but had not used them yet as the company was still awaiting documentation.
Mr Lucas said the paperwork was to prove the importation was legal and also gave a history of the goggles - when they were brought into service and when they needed to be checked.
"We have been unable to use them because we don't have the authenticity papers that come with them that Mr Bain promised us," Mr Lucas said.
"We have made numerous requests to Mr Bain for the paperwork but have been given a number of different stories about why it hasn't arrived."
Mr Lucas said the company was not prepared to spend up to $US30,000 outfitting helicopters to use the goggles or train pilots without the documentation.
"Until we know they can be used here, we are not prepared to spend the money on the helicopter. We are hamstrung, really."
The company had gone to a solicitor this week to have a letter sent to Mr Bain demanding the paperwork be forwarded or the money refunded, Mr Lucas said.
He is awaiting a response from Mr Bain.
Helipro has bases in Rotorua, Palmerston North, Paraparaumu and Christchurch doing tourism, heavy commercial, flight training, film and rescue work.
Yesterday Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust manager Noel Watson also confirmed he had bought goggles from Mr Bain and was still waiting for paperwork. He refused to make any further comment.
Civil Aviation Authority investigator John Fogden said serial numbers and identification codes for 47 sets of goggles in New Zealand had been sent to American manufacturers to check they were not rejects and were approved for aviation use.
"There has been a suggestion that they have not come in through the front door but our prime focus is to make sure they are safe to use," Mr Fogden said.