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.
TravelMole Editorial Team
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.
Vegas’s Billion-Dollar Secrets – What They Don’t Want Tourists to Know
Visit Florida’s New CEO Bryan Griffin Shares His Vision for State Tourism with Graham
Chicago’s Tourism Renaissance: Graham Interviews Kristin Reynolds of Choose Chicago
Graham Talks with Cassandra McCauley of MMGY NextFactor About the Latest Industry Research
Destination International’s Andreas Weissenborn: Research, Advocacy, and Destination Impact
Graham and Don Welsh Discuss the Success of Destinations International’s Annual Conference
Graham and CEO Andre Kiwitz on Ventura Travel’s UK Move and Recruitment for the Role
Brett Laiken and Graham Discuss Florida’s Tourism Momentum and Global Appeal
Graham and Elliot Ferguson on Positioning DC as a Cultural and Inclusive Global Destination
Graham Talks to Fraser Last About His England-to-Ireland Trek for Mental Health Awareness
Kathy Nelson Tells Graham About the Honour of Hosting the World Cup and Kansas City’s Future
Graham McKenzie on Sir Richie Richardson’s Dual Passion for Golf and His Homeland, Antigua
ADS PRO 
Global tourism exceeds 1.5 billion travelers announces UN-Tourism
Qatar Airways offers reduced timetable to over 60 destinations
WTTC global tourism reached record economic impact of 11 trillion in 2025
Hands In, UATP join forces for airline multi-card payments
Overseas travelers to the United States declined by 2.5% in 2025