A culture of rule breaking has been identified as a factor contributing to the Anzac Day helicopter crash that killed three airmen last year.
The Defence Force says the crash on the Kapiti Coast was
avoidable and it accepts responsibility, but no-one will lose their
job over it.
Three helicopters were on a flight to honour New Zealand's fallen
servicemen.
But on Anzac Day last year, Corporal Ben Carson, Flying Officer Dan Gregory and Flight Lieutenant Hayden Madsen joined those killed in military service.
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"I acknowledge up front that there were things that the RNZAF should have done better," Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Peter Stockwell said today.
"As Chief of the Air Force I take responsibly for that and for ensuring that we fix the problems that have been identified."
Using night vision goggles, the three helicopters enroute to Wellington arrived at Pukerua Bay around 5.48am.
Realising they needed to change course because of low cloud, the lead helicopter turned to the north and increased altitude. The rear helicopter turned tightly and descended to drop below the cloud.
But in the poor conditions, pilot Hayden Madsen, flying the middle helicopter, lost sight of the leading Iroquois.
Relying solely on his instruments, he drifted into the hills and crashed.
"It's unlikely they ever realised they were in a valley," said Court of Inquiry President, Wing Commander Logan Cudby.
The court of inquiry has made many damning findings, saying the helicopter squadron had a "can do" culture that permitted rule breaking even when flying with night vision goggles under low cloud.
Flying orders and procedures were too complex, contradictory and convoluted and in some cases out of date to be useful in the conditions, the court said.
And the Air Force failed to identify pilots were not qualified to fly low level over water at night, the court found.
"Neither Flight Lieutenant Madsen or Flying Officer Gregory had fully achieved the necessary currency requirements for the task," Cudby said.
Stockwell said: "I think we took our eye off what we call house keeping. We didn't keep our orders and instructions up to date as much as we should."
The Chief of Air Force believes he now has his house in order but says military aviation pushes the boundaries and he cannot guarantee an accident will not happen again.
Stockwell said that about 10 years ago two levels of operational command were removed from the Air Force in the name of cost cutting and efficiency and that group has now been reestablished. Also, a complete review of the rules around flying in the Air Force is currently underway.
Family critical of findings
The family of Corporal Ben Carson, who died in the crash, has been highly critical of the report's findings and the way they have been treated by the Defence Force.
His father Andrew Carson told ONE News Christmas will be hard.
"Christmas will be hard every year without Ben. But you know, that we've just got to learn to live with."
Andrew Carson is finding it hard to accept today's crash inquiry report.
"Look at that report, everything was in place for that accident to happen," he said.
He says the report and its recommendations do not go far enough.
"I think they've got to look at the accountability of the people that helped cause those mistakes," he said.
"Personally, I think the Air Force should be shut down and given to the Navy or the Army to look after."
The Carson family is also critical of the way they have been treated.
"We feel we've been mistreated in so much as that our family is excluded from the meetings, excluded from being given information," Andrew Carson said.
The sole survivor of the accident, Sergeant Stevin Creeggan was at today's report release.
His family share some of the Carsons' concerns.
Stevin Creeggan's mother, Gaile, has sent ONE News a statement, saying the Air Force told her family Stevin is lucky to be alive and he should be grateful.
"We as a family say they are lucky Stevin is alive. Suffice to say we are disgusted in the way the Air Force has treated us as a family," the statement said.
There will now be a review of how the families were dealt with.
"And out of that, there may well be some lessons that we've got to learn about how we deal with those circumstances in the future," Stockwell said.
The Carson family feel lessons should have been learnt long before they lost their son.
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