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NZ tour company fined for deadly helicopter crash
The owner of a New Zealand helicopter tour company was handed a $64,000 fine for safety breaches in a deadly 2015 crash.
James Scott, owner of Fox and Franz Heliservices was ordered to pay the fine by the Christchurch District Court after breaching safety standards.
Seven people died when a Squirrel helicopter crashed into a deep ravine on Fox Glacier in 2015.
Two couples from the UK, a couple from Australia and the pilot died.
The company violated safety rules in several areas including training, weight and balance, and supervision.
Scott had already made payments totalling $875,000 to the families of the victims.
Andrew Virco and Katharine Walker, from Cambridge, and Nigel and Cynthia Charlton of Hampshire, UK died along with Sovannmony Leang, and Josephine Gibson of New South Wales, Australia.
Aviation Manual Development Limited, owned by Barry Waterland, which was the company in charge of training, was also charged but Waterland escaped a fine as his company has no assets.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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