Second crash as helicopter ferries searcher

Press, 1 May 1978, Page 1

Second crash as helicopter ferries searcher

PA Apia, Western Samoa An American helicopter crashed while flying a search party to a mountain-top south east of Apia where 10 persons died in a plane crash on Thursday evening. The pilot and his passenger escaped serious injury, officials said. The two-man Bell helicopter was one of a pair flying people from the small airstrip near central Apia. They had been landing helpers in a volcano crater about five kilometres from where the South Pacific Island Airways Cessna 402 aircraft crashed. Because of the extremely rough terrain, nobody has yet reached the crash site. The police in Apia last evening issued a passenger list. The name of the pilot has not been released, as next-of-kin have not been informed. It is known that all nine passengers were Western Samoans who flew from Auckland to Tafuna on an Air New Zealand flight and transhipped to the Cessna to go to Apia. One of the dead was a 12-month-old baby. Two brothers were on the plane. The list is: Mr Mila Leafa. Mr Palofiti Isaako, Mrs Telesia Tavita, Miss Vaiuupo Tavita (baby), Miss Faala Tuilepa, Mr Efiaalii Noanoa, Mr Eleli Noanoa, Mrs Fiapule Vaevae, and Mrs Losivale Fiapule. Two of the passengers were reported to have been deported from New Zealand for immigration reasons.

The Cessna was on a flight from Tafuna Airport in American Samoa to Faleolo Airport in Western Samoa, 32 kilometres west of Apia. It was under the control of the same pilot who was involved in a crash-landing two weeks ago at Tafuna, when the nose wheel of his aircraft collapsed on landing. It is not known if it was the same plane. Nobody was hurt in that incident. Inspectors from the New Zealand Ministry of Civil Aviation and the United State Aviation Agency are in Apia and will fly to the wreck as soon as possible. The helicopter which crashed suffered engine failure, but its pilot was able to send a Mayday message and “auto-rotate” into a clearing. A New Zealand Civil Aviation Friendship immediately flew into the area, found the wreck, and called the other helicopter which first picked up the Samoan passenger. The passenger was shaken, but unhurt. The helicopter was in pieces, he said. Earlier, the same Civil Aviation Friendship had found the Cessna on Mount Fito, 1100 metres above sea level, trie highest point in Western Samoa. The Cessna appeared to be a total wreck, poised on the edge of a cliff in a remote, inaccessible area of the central Samoan highlands. The New Zealand Friendshin had been in Samoa for a few days doing calibration work. Two Royal New Zealand

Air Force helicopters will arrive at Apia early today aboard an Air Force Hercules transport to help recover the bodies from the Cessna. The police in Apia last evening said that in spite of concerted efforts by many volunteers, it had not been possible to reach the site of the crash. However, a helicopter crew assisting the search had said it was unlikely that anybody had survived. The two R.N.Z.A.F. helicopters are expected to recover the bodies of the victims today, provided the weather remains clear. They will also fly in a medical team. In Wellington, a police spokesman said the New Zealand police had not been asked to notify any next-of-kin of the dead passengers. He was unable to confirm whether two of them had been deported from New Zealand.