No one event to blame for navy helicopter crash landing

An expensive crash landing by a navy Seasprite helicopter onto the deck of a frigate last year could not be blamed on one event, an official inquiry has found.

The Seasprite was being flown by an Australian test pilot when it thumped onto the deck of the Anzac frigate HMNZS Te Mana during "first of class flight trials" in Cook Strait in February last year.

The impact drove the undercarriage into the body of the helicopter, severely compressed the frame and destroying the radar dome on the belly of the aircraft.

The almost brand-new helicopter was sent back to the Kaman factory in the United States for repairs estimated to cost $7.4 million.

Today the air force, which operates the helicopter for the navy, said a court of inquiry had found that the heavy landing was the result of a "unique and largely unforeseeable combination of ship motion and aircraft rate of descent at the moment of touchdown".

It said the trials were to determine the safe operating limits of the ship's pitch and roll, wind strengths and aircraft handling under normal and emergency conditions.

Air Vice-Marshal John Hamilton, the chief of air force, said in a statement that the events, when taken in context with the inherently greater risk involved in the trials, all contributed to the accident.

"No one significant event has emerged as being pivotal to, or directly causative of, the accident," he said.

He said few recommendations could be made by the court of inquiry to improve procedures or practices to avoid similar incidents.

New Zealand bought five Seasprite SH2G helicopters for $300 million which included spares, training and modifications to the navy's two Anzac class frigates, HMNZS Te Kaha and HMNZS Te Mana, and the Leander class frigate HMNZS Canterbury.

- NZPA