Two own up to role in fatal helicopter crash

By SCOTT MacLEOD transport reporter

A father and son have confessed in a United States court to being part of a bogus helicopter rotor scam that killed two New Zealanders.

Deer hunters Chris Midgley and Ross McMurtrie, both 27, died in October 1995 when their Robinson R22 plunged onto State Highway 35 and was ripped apart by fire and exploding ammunition.

The Opotiki men had bought the helicopter two weeks earlier from local pilot James Edward Gedson, who spent two years in jail for importing and fitting a dodgy tail rotor.

But New Zealand police and American detectives always suspected that a family-run spare parts firm in Torrance, California, played a key role in the deaths.

In a Los Angeles district court, Frank Curtis Cherry, 56, and his son, Frank Curtis Cherry III, 33, have admitted lying to the Federal Aviation Administration about rotor blades fitted to New Zealand helicopters.

Assistant Attorney Alejandro Mayorkas yesterday said the pair lied on export papers about the number of hours clocked up by a main rotor blade. The Cherrys said the blade had flown for only 621 hours when it had actually done 1999 - just one hour short of the maximum allowed.

Mr Mayorkas said the main blade and a bogus tail rotor were fitted to an R22 sent to New Zealand. The men also fitted a bogus tail rotor to another Robinson - the one that crashed - and made it look real by sticking genuine caps on the ends of the blades.

New Zealand scientists found that glue on the rotor came unstuck, causing the chopper to crash.

Former police inspector Chris Sheehan, who headed the New Zealand end of the inquiry, said he gained the impression when he was in the US two weeks ago that the Cherrys would plead guilty.

Mr Sheehan, now a dive instructor, said the Cherrys sent three tail rotors to New Zealand. Two were found, and he believed Gedson destroyed the third set.

"Gedson would never tell us what happened to it," Mr Sheehan said. "It's a phantom set and it's always been a worry to me - I guess there's a slim possibility that it's still out there."

Mr Gedson yesterday said he bought two rotors. One was on the helicopter that crashed and the other was fitted to his own helicopter. He later removed and dumped that rotor.

Mr Gedson said another Opotiki man imported the third set, but removed them from his helicopter after the fatal crash in Tauranga.

"The Cherrys lied their faces off at my trial, then the FBI waited for two years and nailed them," he said. "I went away for nothing - and now I'm going to the Court of Appeal for justice."

The Cherrys' guilty pleas have helped to ease five years of anguish for relatives of the dead men.

Mr McMurtrie's mother, Theresa, said her family had not known of the guilty pleas.

"We've been able to put things behind us because we've always thought that their deaths were not in vain. The only thing that I have wanted was that the whole thing could be sorted out - so no one else has to go through what we did."

Mr Midgley's mother, Iris, said she was glad the pair had finally admitted their guilt. "It's been a long time coming - just over five years since the boys got killed."

The Cherry case became a New Zealand milestone in February this year when the Americans sent a virtual travelling roadshow of attorneys, FBI agents and investigators to Tauranga. They were armed with video and tape-decks to record statements from witnesses.

Staff at the Ministry of Justice and Department for Courts said the visit was extremely unusual.

Gedson's manslaughter conviction in 1997 was the first in the world for fitting bogus parts to an aircraft, and the number of international witnesses at his trial - 17 - was also thought to be a New Zealand record.

The Cherrys have been released on bail until their sentencing in January. They have shifted out of their Arizona home, and could not be contacted yesterday.

An FBI source told the Herald that their business had been shut down. Cherry III faces up to five years in jail and $250,000 in fines. His father will receive up to 10 years' jail and $500,000 in fines.