Helicopter erecting Telecom christmas tree crashes in Auckland
UPDATED: Emergency services have sprayed a foam blanket around the base of the crashed helicopter to prevent over 200 litres of fuel from potentially catching fire.
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UPDATED: Paul Turner, assistant area commander of the NZ Fire Service at the scene, told NBR that a foam blanket has been sprayed around the base of the crashed helicopter in order to prevent over 200 litres of fuel from potentially catching fire.
Witnesses say a security guard who was on site at the time was able to pull the pilot out of the cockpit.
"The helicopter began to lower itself down unexpectedly from around 20 metres in the air causing one of the support cables to show some slack," says Jason, a witness who did not want his last name used.
"Next thing I heard was a loud 'whack' and before we knew it, it had crashed right next to the pylon," he told NBR.
Emergency services are expected to hand the scene over to the Civial Aviation Authority for an investigation.
A helicopter working on erecting a Telecom-sponsored Christmas tree in Auckland's Viaduct Harbour has crashed.
A message on Telecom's official twitter feed says the pilot and all ground crew are "all ok".
The accident was seen live on the TVNZ website, as it was live-streaming the Christmas tree event, about 10.30 this morning. The broadcaster has placed video replaying the moments of the crash on its website.
Emergency services are at the scene.
Insignia on the helicopter is that of Helisika - a company based at Ardmore Airport. Calls to the business were unanswered.
Robert McCambridge
Wed, 23 Nov 2011
Wed, 23 Nov 2011
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Helicopter erecting Telecom christmas tree crashes in Auckland
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