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The Anzac Day military helicopter crash has sent shockwaves through the Defence Force in what is a tight community.
Three people died when the RNZAF Iroquois helicopter, en route from Ohakea Air Base to Anzac Day services in Wellington, crashed on hills above State Highway 1 near Pukerua Bay north east of Wellington shortly before 6am.
One crewman suffered serious injuries and is in a stable condition in Wellington Hospital. The Air Force is not releasing his name just yet.
Chief of the Air Force Air Vice Marshal Graham Lintott paid tribute at a press conference at Ohakea.
"For today I would like to ask you all to join with the Air
Force family in wishing the crewman a speedy recovery while
remembering three wonderful young New Zealanders who this country
can be truly proud of. I know I certainly am."
The three deceased men from Number 3 Squadron were 33-year-old-
flight Lieutenant Hayden Madsen, a pilot who joined the Air Force
in 1996; 28-year- old flying officer Daniel Gregory, also a pilot,
who joined as a rifleman over 10 years ago; and Corporal Ben
Carson, a 25-year-old mechanic and technician.
They were all young and married and the Defence Force says they all had big careers ahead of them.
"They were all too young and all with bright futures to look forward to. And now we mourn their loss," says Lintott.
The deaths are cutting deep in a tight knit community.
"Our family is strong and close and we will all feel this loss keenly," says Lintott.
But sadly this isn't the first time the flag at Ohakea has been flown at half mast.
Five Air Force staff have now been killed in the line of duty in the past six months.
In January, Squadron Leader Nick Cree, a member of the Red Checkers air display was killed during practice in Manawatu.
Two months earlier, explosives expert, flight Sergeant Andrew Forster was killed when an old artillery shell exploded near Waiouru.
It's the second fatal Iroquois crash since the helicopter entered New Zealand service 44 years ago.
In April 1972, three died after a helicopter crashed near the Kaipara Harbour.
"Any death is wasteful and I guess when you lose three people it's just that much harder to take," says Lintott.
The Air Force is starting to replace the Iroquois, the first to be delivered towards the end of the year.
Asked if this decision should have been made five years ago, Defence Minister Wayne Mapp said,"Well clearly all of those questions are going to be looked at but it's too early to make those sorts of speculations."
For now though the focus remains on the investigation and supporting the families of the deceased men.
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