Helicopter crash north of Kaikōura: Rescuer describes a horrifying scene

Ian Mehrtens spent his 69th birthday pulling dead and injured people from the wreckage of a helicopter crash across the road from his home in Kekerengu, and there is a picture that will stay with him forever.

“The little doll … the little girl who was injured, her doll was in the surf and I picked it up,” Mehrtens said.

“I took the girl to the beach to where her mom was laying. I was wondering ‘where is my mom … is my mom okay?’ and I said ‘yeah she’s fine’, but she was far from it. “

Two people were killed when the helicopter crashed on the beach around 12:40 pm yesterday and three children were seriously injured.

Two adults are feared to have died, and the children survived the tragedy. Yesterday it was reported that a family had flown north from Christchurch to enjoy an idyllic lunch.

Mehrtens and other locals rushed to the scene and began pulling the victims out, terrified that the smoldering remains would catch fire at any moment.

He said the pilot was obviously dead and an adult female “didn’t look good.” Three children were injured and rescued, including a boy and a teenage girl with broken legs.

Mehrtens and his wife Lyn own a beachfront shelter where the accident occurred, opposite Kekerengu tent and camp, 30 km north of Kaikoura.

They were standing in the kitchen with a friend watching the helicopter land when suddenly something went terribly wrong.

“I was coming ashore and I thought I was putting on a display for the passengers, showing them how the helicopter worked,” Mehrtens said.

“It started spinning … then it just disappeared … clunk … bang. I thought, ‘Shit, oh my gosh’ – it just collapsed and I thought, ‘Crikey, they’re going to need a little help.”

He got on his quad bike and headed to the beach, where he met his neighbor and partner, who asked not to be identified in this story, on his tractor.

The helicopter had sunk into the water, so the men, assisted by locals, campers and tourists, tied a rope to the tail and dragged it from the waves to the beach.

Then they started frantically pulling people out.

Finally, they recovered the pilot, left him on the beach and covered his face with a blanket, placing stones around him so that the coastal wind would not carry him away.

“I didn’t want to see that,” Mehrtens said.

“Poor bastard … something must have really gone wrong.”

He said the helicopter crumpled “like tissue” and his wife described it as “like aluminum foil.”

“Suddenly the course was altered … there was a big crack and I thought maybe it landed on their runners and they were upset, but no,” Mehrtens recalled.

“[The kids] they screamed in pain … The older girl was not good.

“There were six of us trying to get them out, the worst part was trying to get them out of their seat belts.”

Mehrtens turned 69 yesterday and being part of a dramatic and tragic rescue was not part of his plan.

He has worked as a lifeguard for years, pulling people out of wrecked and burning cars, but never anything like this.

But don’t call him a hero.

“Far from it, there were other guys there … yes, of course, [do it again],” he said.

“I’ll never forget … the old instinct took over and I just left.”

Lyn Mehrtens said she was proud of her husband and disagreed that he was not a hero.

“How many people did you get out of that thing?

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”

The Transportation Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has opened an investigation into the accident, and three investigators will arrive at the scene this morning.

The helicopter was an Airbus Helicopters EC120 and is believed to have come from Christchurch.

Investigators will review the wreckage as they work to understand the circumstances that led to the accident.

Harald Hendel, TAIC’s chief accident investigator, said there may be people who saw what happened, given the location of the accident next to a busy cafe on State Highway 1.

He called for witnesses, “especially anyone who captured the accident on their vehicle’s dash cam or other recording device, to contact TAIC as soon as possible.”

They have established a perimeter around the remains that prohibits public access, to protect the evidence.

“Your initial work will include inspecting the wreckage, mapping the site, and speaking with witnesses. Gathering additional evidence in the coming weeks and months will likely include examining the helicopter’s components, looking for any logged data from the helicopter’s electronics, and obtaining maintenance records. “.

New Zealand Fire and Emergency Operational Insurance (Fenz) team member Darryl Papesch was one of the first responders on the scene and said that locals had pulled everyone out of the wreck when he arrived.

He confirmed that the three survivors were children, who were flown to Wellington Hospital for treatment.

“We had conversations with them, not a proper conversation, but they knew their names and how old they were,” Papesch said.

“The premises were outstanding, in a chaotic situation they were outstanding.

“The three agencies, Fenz, the police, St John, worked together and just got down to business.”

A hearse arrived at the scene late last night.

Mehrtens and his fellow tractor owner were having dinner together last night, a barbecue to mark the rescuer’s birthday.

He was looking forward to a couple of beers, but admitted that they would probably spend much of the night talking about the event.

“It’s a shame, it’s so sad … especially at this time of year,” he said.

“It’s just the children, that poor girl … she was distraught. I carried her about 20 meters down the beach and put her to bed with her mother. I think the mother must have been expelled and someone put a blanket on her.”

Another witness said the accident was “terrible, just terrible.”

She said it happened “out of nowhere”.

“One minute it was there, the next minute it was turning … it wasn’t that high, it just couldn’t level off,” he said.

“I thought it might have been turning to slow down, but then bang. Either something went really wrong with that helicopter or something wrong with the pilot, maybe a medical situation.”