Coroner's inquest into deadly 2015 Fox Glacier helicopter crash that killed seven people opens in Christchurch

A massive recovery operation was launched after the crash. Photo / Supplied 

An inquest into how a scenic helicopter crashed at Fox Glacier in 2015 and killed six tourists and its pilot has opened this morning.

Queenstown pilot Mitch Gameren, 28, died alongside his six passengers when the Alpine Adventures' AS350 Squirrel helicopter he was flying on a scenic trip plunged into a deep crevasse in the glacier on November 21, 2015.

Gameren died along with tourists, Australians Sovannmony Leang, 27, and Josephine Gibson, 29, along with Cynthia Charlton, 70, husband Nigel Charlton, 66, Andrew Virco, 50, and his partner Katharine Walker, 51, all from the UK.

Mrs Charlton's body was only found two years later by a tramper.

Coroner Marcus Elliott is looking into the circumstances leading up to the crash and to see if any recommendations could be made to try and prevent any future tragedies.

The hearing, underway at the Christchurch Justice and Emergency Services Precinct, is expected to last five days.

The names of the deceased were read aloud to the court before a minute's silence was observed, followed by a karakia.

Coroner Elliott offered his sincere condolences to the families of those who died - all who were visitors to New Zealand and who had embarked on a journey to witness the "great beauty of that part of the country".

The fact they died in doing so "is enough to cause our hearts to break", the coroner said.

He explained that the inquest comes almost six years after the crash because it was adjourned by investigation carried out by the CAA and the court proceedings brought by them which concluded in 2019.

Mitch Gameren was killed when his helicopter crashed on the Fox Glacier in 2015. Photo / Supplied

Counsel assisting the coroner Anne Toohey this morning gave an opening statement for the inquiry into what she called "one of New Zealand's worst helicopter accidents".

The cause of the crash was "adequately established" by Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) inquiry, Toohey said, and so the focus is on whether the coroner can make any recommendations for the industry.

Fox Glacier, along with neighbouring Franz Josef Glacier, is not controlled airspace and flights operate under visual flight rules.

At Fox Glacier, aviation rules state there must be minimum visibility of 5000m and any aircraft must be clear of cloud and in sight of the surface.

On November 21, 2015 the weather was rainy and cloudy.

Some flights had already been postponed and cancelled that morning.

The wreckage after the crash at Fox Glacier in November 2015. Photo / Supplied 

But at some point, Gameren decided that the weather had improved enough to take up a scenic flight with six passengers.

The flight took off at 9.45am and was due back 10.05am.

Mid-flight, Gameren contacted the pilot of another helicopter operating in neighbouring Franz Josef glacier.

It was the last contact he made.

During the flight, some passengers took photographs, which were later recovered.

They show the helicopter landing on the glacier at Chancellor Shelf. Some of the passengers got out to walk on the snow.

It was snowing, the inquest heard, with cloud coming and going.

But after the helicopter took off again, it crashed soon after into a deep crevasse about 600m south of the shelf.

There were no survivors. And there were no witnesses or onboard flight recording data.

A TAIC report published in May 2019 found that the helicopter struck the glacier surface with high forward speed and a high rate of descent with the engine delivering power.

TAIC found that the weather conditions were unstable and unsuitable for scenic flights and likely frequently below criteria under Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) rules.

It was very likely, the report found, that when the helicopter took off and went down the valley, the pilot's perception of height was affected by cloud, precipitation, flat light, and condensation on helicopter's front windscreen which was likely caused by passengers getting into the machine with damp clothing.

The CAA suspended the Air Operating Certificate (AOC) of Alpine Adventures' managing director and owner James Patrick Scott after the tragedy, grounding his 15-strong helicopter fleet.

In June 2016, the CAA charged Scott and quality assurance manager Barry Waterland's company, Aviation Manual Development (2009) Ltd under the Health and Safety in Employment Act legislation.

Scott and Aviation Manual Development later admitted failing to take all practicable steps to ensure no action or inaction of any employee while at work harmed any other person. The maximum penalty is a $250,000 fine. Waterland was discharged without penalty after the court heard he was not in a financial position to pay any fine.

Before sentencing at Christchurch District Court in 2018, Scott made a voluntary reparation payment of $125,000 to each of the seven families, totalling $875,000. He was then fined $64,000 while Aviation Manual Development escaped a fine after the court heard it had no financial means to pay one.

At sentencing, a family friend of the Charlton family called for changes to health and safety rules in the New Zealand adventure tourism industry to prevent future tragedies.

Walker's brother, speaking from Britain, slammed what he saw as a "reprehensible" disregard for health and safety and "egregious, systematic failures" by the New Zealand aviation industry.

Helicopter owner Scott gave evidence at the inquest today.

A lot more structure and "progression" is now put into pilot training at the company, but at the time of the crash, while they did have an approved training programme, the CAA found it was a "bit light in detail", Scott said.

The CAA has now approved the company's internal training and flight examiner checks, the inquest heard.

Gameren was not an inexperienced pilot, Scott said, having done 1800 hours, many of which were spent in glacier conditions. Many new recruits spend at least a year in the office, watching calls on weather and seeing how they operate.

"They get a real good grip on what is happening," said Scott, who has flown helicopters commercially since 1976 and has about 18,500 flying hours.

Scott is certain that Gameren would not have taken off from the Chancellor Shelf in cloud.

He believes the cockpit could have fogged up on descent from the heat of the passengers wearing damp clothes, causing Gameren to descend to seek some land for reference.

"I don't know what happened after that."

Pilots need to decide, based on conditions, experience, legal and safety requirements, whether they can or can't land, "something that I do all the time".

No pilots, Scott said, would will take off and fly into cloud.

"That just wouldn't happen."

There is a "bit more emphasis" now on mountain training flying, but he believes what they were doing at the time was sufficient.

TAIC says the helicopter was overweight by 65kg on take-off.

But Scott, who since the district court proceedings has received the respective weights of the passengers, denies it was overweight.

"That machine was not overloaded. And I can back that up with the evidence now," Scott said, adding that he hopes the inquest rectifies the record.

People are now weighed before flights, he said, with processes in place so that they could never be overloaded.

In-flight video recorders, which are being looked at by the industry, will be fitted to his machines within months, Scott said.

And in closing, he believed that extra training for pilots around decision-making would be useful for the industry.

Family members are dialling into the inquest which will continue tomorrow.