Parks and Wildlife won’t issue penalties after mass helicopter landing at Noyhener Beach

There will be no repercussions for a helicopter safari after Parks and Wildlife Services have found they landed on emergency – despite claims it looked like the pilots were “on a lark”.

• Anger over wilderness helicopter landings on remote Noyhener Beach
• Chopper landings on remote South-West beach were forced, say pilots

NO FINES will be issued over a mass helicopter landing on a remote beach in Tasmania’s World Heritage Area, the Parks and Wildlife Service says.

Local bushwalker Dan Broun reported spotting the fleet of more than a dozen private helicopters land on remote Noyhener Beach, near Port Davey in the state’s South-West, on February 28.

Landing in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area is strictly forbidden without a permit and fines of up to $3360 can apply per landing.

But a parks spokeswoman said no action would follow because the landing was considered necessary to “avoid an emergency”.

“The investigation found that the landing occurred due to a range of factors, including the weather, pilot experience, communications, and some helicopters not able to cope with high winds,” a spokeswoman said.

“Whilst no authority had been granted for the landing to occur, the National Parks and Reserves Management Regulations 2019 provide an exemption for landings that occur in emergency circumstances.

“The PWS investigators were satisfied there was a genuine need to land and in doing so prevented a potential emergency situation.”

Mr Broun said he was unconvinced by the explanation.

Helicopters on Noyhener Beach, Tasmania, February 2019.

“There were forecast weather conditions that they chose to fly into on the day,” he said.

“The observed weather conditions were better that what was forecast. How can weather have been a factor in having an emergency landing?

“And how could they have become so separated in such a short period of time? It beggars belief.”

He said from his vantage point there was no sign of an emergency as the helicopters made an orderly landing.

“There wasn’t any behaviours on the beach that would indicate any sort of emergency,” he said.

“They never gathered in group … they took photos of each others’ helicopters. They appeared to be on a lark. There was no sign of distress whatsoever.”

Queensland company Helibiz Australia was conducting a “helicopter safari” around the state at the time.

Helicopters at Noyhener Beach.

A spokesman for the group of pilots said four of the aircraft had lost contact with the lead groups, so the decision was made for an unscheduled landing.

“We’ve been advised from Tasmanian Parks and [are] glad that our actions have proven

to be 100 per cent necessary for safety and that we considered all options available,” the spokesman said.

“We would like to see an approved VFR flight corridor to Bathurst Harbour Airport from the coast that could take into consideration both sensitive areas to avoid but a safe landing area that aircraft and crew can land due to weather or emergencies.

“This corridor would allow a flight track to follow from Port Davey noting areas to avoid and desirable heights to enter or exit the airport.

“We avoided the airport due to these sensitive areas in particular the Melaleuca region with the orange breast parrot breeding season, so landed on the largest open beach on the coast to do the right thing even while dealing with deteriorating weather.”

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