New helicopter safety measures planned following crash report

Updated at 6.39pm: The Civil Aviation Department said on Thursday it had introduced new safety measures in the wake of a new government report on a helicopter accident, which killed two men in 2003.

The department said it had implemented most recommendations contained in the report. These included introducing:

• a minimum height for helicopter routes and new flight procedures;
• improved training for chopper crews;
• mandatory wearing of helmets inside helicopters, and;
• a longer overlap between helicopter flight shifts.

The fatal crash involved a Government Flying Service helicopter. It had smashed into a hillside on Lantau Island on August 26, 2003.

The helicopter, a French-made Eurocopter 155 B1, had departed from Chek Lap Kok airport about 10pm that day. It then cut across Lantau via the Tung Chung Pass to pick up a patient on Cheung Chau.

Pilot Pang Fu-kwok, 34, and crewman Dickson Chan Man-tik, 31, were killed in the crash.

A government spokesman said on Thursday a team of inspectors had completed investigations. They gave their recommendations in the report to departments responsible for aviation.