Helicopter ‘wreck’ still a mystery

Press, 22 April 1986, Page 1

Helicopter ‘wreck’ still a mystery

By

PETER COMER

A shooter’s graphic description of a helicopter wreck in the bush in Lees Valley, North Canterbury, remained a mystery yesterday. The crashed machine, if it exists, was not found during searches by a Royal New Zealand Air Force Iroquois helicopter and by men on foot. A hunter had telephoned Mr Nigel Duckworth, owner of Wharfedale, Lees Valley, on Sunday evening to say he had stumbled upon the crumpled blue and white Hughes 300 on Ladbrooks Hill, within the Mount Thomas State forest. The man said he was from Sheffield and gave his name, but Mr Duckworth could not recall it. The police appealed through the news media yesterday morning for the man to come forward to lead them to the wreck, but there was no response. The official search was later stood down. A spokesman said the police were treating the crash report as a hoax, and that nothing more would be done unless the hunter came forward or more information came to hand. “Certainly in my mind it is a hoax call for reasons better known to the caller. If this is the case he has wasted valuable police and Air Force time and money,” said the spokesman.

The Christchurch police are aware of allegations of illegal hunting of deer by helicopter in State forests and recreational hunting areas in North Canterbury. A man with wide experience in the deer recovery industry said yesterday that it was not unknown for a helicopter that had come down while hunting a prohibited area to have been lifted out by another machine before the authorities became aware of it. Mr Duckworth thinks it unlikely that the hunter’s report was a hoax. “He gave a pretty graphic description. He said it had hit a tree, and the rotor blades were all twisted upwards,” said Mr Duckworth. The man had said that the machine was a blue and white Hughes 300. He did not mention any registration number, but left his name. “I should have written it down,” said Mr Duckworth. “He gave a fairly precise description of the area and how he got there. He obviously knows the country.” Mr Duckworth said the man had sounded genuine, although it was possible he might have got the type of machine wrong. “Some people’s aircraft identification is a bit shaky,” he said. “They see a Robinson and call it a Hughes 300, or they see a 500 and call it a Jet Ranger.”

No helicopters or persons have been reported missing, however. Mr Duckworth said that if the man who telephoned him came forward “we will put him in a machine and take him straight up there.” One person telephoned the police yesterday suggesting that the wreck might be that of a Tiger Moth which crashed in the area about 30 years ago, but the police think it most unlikely that anyone could mistake a Tiger Moth for a helicopter. If the call was found to be a hoax, the person responsible could face charges, a spokesman said.