The Greymouth Star was told the wrecked machine was lying on its side yesterday morning awaiting investigation by officials.
A source said the Squirrel machine was badly damaged but the two people on board escaped serious injury. They were flown to hospital in Greymouth for a check-up after setting off an emergency beacon.
The helicopter was part of the large-scale South Westland 1080 aerial poison project run by Zero Invasive Predators (Zip), and had been heading from Wanaka to Franz Josef Glacier. It was not dropping 1080 at the time of the crash.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) is also investigating and identified the crashed machine as an Airbus AS350BA, registration ZK-HJM, belonging to Amuri Helicopters based at Hanmer Springs.
"The helicopter was significantly damaged. The commission has deployed two investigators, due on site today," a spokesman said.
A protection order has been issued relating to the accident site, the helicopter wreckage, the logbooks and all electronic data associated with the machine involved in the accident.
The TAIC opens an inquiry when it believes the circumstances of an accident or incident have — or are likely to have — significant implications for transport safety, or when the inquiry may allow it to make findings or recommendations to improve transport safety.
Maritime NZ's Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCCNZ) was alerted at 2.54pm and the Roa Mining West Coast Rescue Helicopter was called at 3.09pm, landing back at Greymouth at 5.30pm with the two occupants from the crashed machine.
A Maritime NZ spokesman said the accident was attended by the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) helicopter from Greymouth.
"The HEMS team successfully retrieved the pair from the crash site and took them back to Greymouth. Both passengers sustained only minor injuries. The scene is now under the oversight of the Civil Aviation Authority, which will conduct further investigations into the incident."
Zip said the helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing while commuting to Franz Josef for an operation run by Zip.
There were no Zip employees on board and the helicopter was not carrying any poison bait when it crashed, a spokesman said.
— Greymouth Star
