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Michael Erceg - Source: ONE News
A civil aviation report has found mistakes by billionaire businessman Michael Erceg led to the helicopter crash which killed him and his passenger, more than four years ago.
Erceg, who made his fortune through several liquor companies and was estimated to be worth $1.2 billion, was piloting his helicopter in cloudy conditions when it crashed into trees south of Auckland in 2005.
His friend Guus Klatte also died in the crash.
The report found the 49-year-old did not check the weather forecast before setting out from Papakura and had limited first-hand experience of long cross country flights. It says Erceg didn't appreciate the significance of deteriorating weather and made poor choices when bad weather set in, losing control of his helicopter when he changed direction to avoid the conditions.
The Civil Aviation Authority is calling for more extensive training for helicopter pilots to make sure they are better prepared for bad weather and can use their instruments to help them in poor visibility.
CAA spokesman Bill Sommer says the instruments in the helicopter could have been used to help navigate in the poor visibility. He says while pilots have instrument training in a fixed-wing plane, it hasn't normally been included for helicopter pilots.
Sommer says a review into the effectiveness of emergency beacons in crashes is also going to be looked at.
Damage to an antenna also meant transmissions from the emergency beacon weren't received, which delayed the search and the CAA wants to review the installation, activation, and crash-worthiness of beacons.
An independent review of the search for Erceg following the crash identified a lack of co-ordination among rescue services. The official search was called off after six days and a private search funded by the family found the wreckage and the bodies after 15 days.
And the CAA wants pilots to provide more detail to rescue services when they are planning long flights. Investigators say it took time to realise the helicopter was missing, because Erceg had only filed an arrival time for the end of the flight which was intended to be at Queenstown.
Sommer says it's not something that needs enforcement and will be handled through education programmes.
An independent review of the search for Erceg following the crash identified a lack of co-ordination among rescue services. The official search was called off after six days and a private search funded by the family found the wreckage and the bodies after 15 days.
A coroner's inquiry into the deaths continues.
