Pilot blamed for helicopter crash
Print Edition
FRENCH justice officials have concluded that pilot error caused a helicopter crash near Bordeaux in December that killed a Chinese billionaire and his son as they flew over his newly purchased wine estate.
An inquiry into the accident that killed 46-year-old tea magnate Lam Kok and three others uncovered “no technical or maintenance problems,” said Christophe Auger, a prosecutor in the southwest city of Libourne.
“It was caused by human error by the pilot, and the principal reason for the accident was flying at too low an altitude,” he told the regional paper Sud Ouest.
The crash happened on December 20 during a helicopter tour of the prestigious Chateau de la Riviere estate.
Kok was accompanied by his 12-year-old son, his financial adviser and the chateau’s former owner James Gregoire when the helicopter crashed into the nearby Dordogne river.
The child’s body was found in the submerged helicopter shortly after the accident, while the other victims were swept down river by currents and their bodies located in the following weeks.
There had been concerns that the pilot had been drinking. Auger said that his alcohol consumption was “a contributing but not principal factor.”
Kok bought the estate for 30 million euros (US$33 million) the day before the fatal accident.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
