Helicopter death of Chinese billionaire 'pilot error'
Inquiry finds helicopter was flying too low above winery when it crashed killing Lam Kok
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.
Christophe Auger, prosecutor of the southwest city Libourne, said an inquiry into the crash that killed 46 year-old tea magnate Lam Kok and three others had uncovered "no technical or maintenance problems."
Kok was head of the Hong Kong-based Brilliant Group and had invited the press along for a tour of the prestigious Chateau de la Riviere estate to celebrate the €30 million (HK$318 million) purchase.
"It was caused by human error by the pilot, and the principal reason for the accident was flying at too low an altitude," Auger told the regional paper Sud Ouest.
Kok was accompanied by his 12-year-old son Kok Shun-yu, 12, his financial advisor Wang Peng and the chateau's former owner James Gregoire when the helicopter crashed into the nearby Dordogne river on December 20, 2013.
Kok's wife had decided not to go on the doomed flight, reportedly because she was afraid of helicopters.