Kiwi Helicopter Tour Operators Plead Guilty to Safety Breaches | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-Unlimited-07.07.25

Airborne-NextGen-07.08.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.09.25

Airborne-FlightTraining-07.10.25

AirborneUnlimited-07.11.25

Tue, Jul 11, 2023

Kiwi Helicopter Tour Operators Plead Guilty to Safety Breaches

22 Lives Lost in 2019 White Island Volcanic Eruption

Three helicopter tour operators have pleaded guilty to willfully violating safety protocols during the 2019 eruption of New Zealand’s White Island volcano. The disaster claimed 22 lives and severely injured over twenty additional individuals.

Notwithstanding volcanic activity, White Island is a popular tourist attraction and a perennial moneymaker for air-tourism concerns.

The guilty pleas entered by Volcanic Air Safaris Ltd., Kahu NZ Ltd., Aerius Ltd., and six additional business entities and individuals precluded court proceedings slated to have gotten underway the week of 09 July.

At the time of 09 December 2019 eruption, 47 people were known to have been on the island—which, in fact, is the tip of an undersea volcano known as Whakaari to the region’s indigenous Maori population. The majority of the 25 individuals not killed outright by the eruption suffered severe burns attributable to superheated steam.

Questions pertaining to why tourists were allowed on the island abound—particularly in light of the fact volcanologists monitoring Whakaari’s seismic activity dramatically raised the volcano’s alert level two-weeks prior to the eruption.

The three aforementioned helicopter operators admitted they’d failed to ensure the health and safety of staff and tourists.

Many of those killed and injured were Australian tourists traveling aboard the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Ovation of the Seas. The eruption ended the lives of 14 Australians, five Americans, two New Zealanders, and one German.

The judge-only trial—to be convened in lieu of a jury trial—commenced 10 July 2023 and is scheduled to span 16-weeks.

Each of the defendant organizations faces a maximum fine of 1.5-million New Zealand dollars ($927,000). Each individual defendant faces a maximum fine of 300,000 New Zealand dollars ($185,000).

The three helicopter tour operators will appear in court in August.

FMI: www.govt.nz

Advertisement

More News

Airborne 07.11.25: New FAA Boss, New NASA Boss (Kinda), WB57s Over TX

Also: ANOTHER Illegal Drone, KidVenture Educational Activities, Record Launches, TSA v Shoes The Senate confirmed Bryan Bedford to become the next Administrator of the FAA, in a ne>[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 07.10.25: ATC School, Air Race Classic, Samson School

Also: Sully v Bedford, Embraer Scholarships, NORAD Intercepts 11, GAMA Thankful Middle Georgia State University will be joining the Federal Aviation Administration’s fight ag>[...]

Airborne Affordable Flyers 07.03.25: Sonex HW, BlackShape Gabriel, PRA Fly-In 25

Also: DarkAero Update, Electric Aircraft Symposium, Updated Instructor Guide, OSH Homebuilts Celebrate The long-awaited Sonex High Wing prototype has flown... the Sonex gang tells >[...]

Airborne-Flight Training 07.10.25: ATC School, Air Race Classic, Samson School

Also: Sully v Bedford, Embraer Scholarships, NORAD Intercepts 11, GAMA Thankful Middle Georgia State University will be joining the Federal Aviation Administration’s fight ag>[...]

Rick Kenin New Board Chair of VAI

30-Year USCG Veteran Aviator Focusing On Member Benefits The Vertical Aviation International Board of Directors announced its new leadership officers in April, and all began their >[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC