AS350-B2 collision with terrain at Mount Alta

An AS350-B2 carrying a heli-ski group struck the snow-covered slope at Mount Alta and rolled down the mountain. One passenger died and the other six occupants were injured.

FinalAuthoritative evidenceVerified 22/08/2026 · 1 source

At a glance

Date
2014-08-16
Location
Mount Alta, Otago, NZ
Activity
Heli skiing
Operational phase
Landing
Categories
Aviation
Fatalities
1
Serious injuries
6
Party size
7
Operator
Unknown
Flight operator
The Helicopter Line
Investigation authority
TAIC New Zealand
Investigation ID
AO-2014-005

Aircraft

  • Eurocopter · AS350-B2 · AS350 · ZK-HYO · Involved

People by role

Guest
5
Guide
1
Pilot
1

Confirmed facts

  • The flight was carrying a heli-ski group.
  • The helicopter struck terrain and rolled down the mountain.

Timeline

  1. 2014-08-16

    Occurrence

    An AS350-B2 carrying a heli-ski group struck the snow-covered slope at Mount Alta and rolled down the mountain. One passenger died and the other six occupants were injured.

What remains unknown

  • The selected page describes remaining injuries as moderate to serious without a structured serious-injury split.

Sources

  1. 1. AO-2014-005 — Mount Alta heli-skiing accident

    Transport Accident Investigation Commission New Zealand · Tier A · Primary source · Final investigation · EN

    Published 07/12/2017 · Accessed 22/08/2026

    Rights note: Link and attribute; paraphrase findings.

Revision history

  1. v2 · 22/08/2026 Published from approved import batch incident-pilot-2026-08.

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