A highly experienced Wānaka pilot and a well-known South Island guide have been named as the two men killed when a chartered helicopter crashed into rugged alpine country in Mt Aspiring National Park on Sunday morning, in an accident that has stunned New Zealand’s close-knit backcountry aviation community.
Pilot Tim Brown and guide Sean Roach died when the Alpine Group Eurocopter AS350 B3 they were in came down in the upper Te Naihi River area in South Westland, around 24 kilometres west of Makarora, while ferrying a small hunting party. Police were alerted at 9.39am and confirmed two fatalities later that day. Three other members of the hunting group were on the ground at the time of the crash and were not hurt.
Brown was the chief pilot at Alpine Helicopters, part of the Wallis family aviation business based in Wānaka, and had flown for several South Island operators including Paton Air, Roncato Helicopters and Elite Aviation Services before joining the Wallis fleet. He is survived by his wife and daughter. The Alpine Group described both men as “highly experienced and valued members of a close-knit team” in a statement carried by RNZ.
Roach was a respected hunting guide and a former captain of the Otago men’s amateur golf team, known well beyond the hunting fraternity through his sporting connections in the lower South Island. The Otago Daily Times reported tributes flowed from across the aviation, guiding and sporting communities, with friends describing both men as careful operators with a deep love of the high country.
The aircraft involved is an AS350 B3, a single-engine light utility helicopter widely used in New Zealand for agricultural work, search and rescue, deer recovery, heli-skiing and tourism. The type is favoured in the South Island for its hot-and-high performance, meaning it handles thinner air at altitude better than many comparable machines. Alpine Group operates a fleet of similar helicopters out of Wānaka and Queenstown.
Weather is not an obvious factor at this stage. Multiple eyewitnesses and the company itself have said conditions in the area on Sunday morning were clear and calm, with no obvious turbulence or visibility problems of the kind that have featured in past alpine crashes. That has prompted particular attention on the mechanical and operational picture as investigators begin their work on the wreckage.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has deployed three investigators to the crash site for an initial period of at least three days. They will examine the wreckage on the mountainside before it is recovered and trucked back to the commission’s technical facility in Wellington for detailed analysis. The Civil Aviation Authority is conducting a parallel inquiry. The deaths have also been referred to the Coroner.
The crash adds to a long and painful tally for the Wallis family. The aviation firm was founded by the late Sir Tim Wallis, the pioneer behind the live deer recovery industry of the 1960s and 1970s and one of New Zealand’s best known agricultural aviators. Two of his sons, Matt and Nick Wallis, were killed in separate helicopter crashes in 2018, accidents that prompted a wider conversation about safety in the country’s commercial helicopter sector. The Alpine Group is now led by Toby and Jonathan Wallis.
Commercial helicopter operations in the southern alps remain one of the more dangerous corners of New Zealand’s transport system. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has repeatedly noted that the combination of high terrain, variable mountain weather, marginal landing sites, complex loads and tight commercial pressure leaves a narrow margin for error, even for the most seasoned crews. Tourism flights, hunting drop-offs and recovery work all involve operating at the edge of the machine’s performance envelope, particularly in the warmer months.
Hunting party drop-offs of this kind are a routine and important part of how access to the rugged interior of the South Island actually works. Roar season in late autumn typically brings a peak in helicopter activity, with parties flown into remote valleys for tahr, chamois and red deer. By mid-May the bulk of the roar is over, but private and guided hunts continue and operators are still flying regularly into terrain that is otherwise effectively unreachable.
For Wānaka, a town of fewer than 10,000 permanent residents, the loss of two recognised local figures inside 48 hours has been heavy. The 1News coverage reported messages of support arriving from across the aviation industry, from rival operators in Queenstown and the West Coast and from former colleagues now flying overseas. Several agricultural aviation firms publicly offered to release pilots to help cover commitments while the Alpine team grieves.
Police have asked the public to respect the privacy of both families while formal identification and the early phase of the investigation proceed. The Alpine Group has not said when, or whether, the company expects to release further details about the flight itself, beyond confirming the names of the men involved and the broad outline of the operation.
The investigation is now likely to run for many months. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has signalled it will look at the wreckage, the maintenance history of the helicopter, the operational decisions made on the day and any wider systemic factors. A preliminary report is typically published within 30 days, with a full final report often taking 12 to 18 months.
Did you know Tim Brown or Sean Roach, or have memories of flying with the Wallis operation out of Wānaka over the years? Have your say in the comments below.
See also NZ National Parks Explorer — Newswire’s interactive map of all thirteen New Zealand national parks, including Mt Aspiring.
This article was written by AI, briefed to report the facts, hopefully without some of the bias people bring to the job 🙂
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