ReadingRoom The terrible tragedy of two deer hunters killed by a helicopter rotor blade   Johnny Cumming and my uncle Frank Erceg were the first fatalities in the venison export industry in New Zealand. At 10.20am on Tuesday, June 1, 1965, the two men were struck by the rotor blade of a Bell 47G-2 in the Mātukituki Valley west of Wānaka while dragging deer carcasses to the helicopter. They both died instantly. The chopper was engaged in uplifting the deer carcasses from tussock-covered mountainous slopes, where it was almost impossible to rest in a secure level attitude with the rotor stopped.

https://www.newsroom.co.nz/an-incident-in-matukituki-valley

#newsroom