Both were highly experienced and valued members of a close-knit team
In the clear skies above South Westland's Te Naihi River valley, a helicopter carrying a hunting party fell to earth on a Sunday morning, claiming the lives of pilot Tim Brown and guide Sean Roach — two experienced men whose careers had been built on navigating the very terrain that claimed them. The crash, involving a Eurocopter operated by The Alpine Group, left three other occupants to be rescued and a community to reckon with the particular grief of loss in familiar, unforgiving country. Investigators from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and the Civil Aviation Authority have begun the slow work of understanding how routine work in clear conditions became tragedy.
- Two seasoned backcountry professionals died when their helicopter went down in calm, clear weather — conditions that offered no obvious explanation for the crash.
- Three surviving members of the hunting party were stranded in remote South Westland terrain until a coordinated emergency response brought them to safety.
- The Alpine Group, a family-owned aviation company with its own painful history of fatal crashes, faces another devastating loss and has pledged full cooperation with investigators.
- Wreckage from the Eurocopter AS350 B3 is being transported to Wellington for detailed analysis as both TAIC and CAA pursue formal investigations.
- The crash lands against a haunting family backdrop — two of the Wallis brothers who own The Alpine Group lost two other siblings to separate helicopter crashes in 2018.
On a clear Sunday morning in May, a Eurocopter AS350 B3 operated by The Alpine Group went down in the upper Te Naihi River valley in South Westland, carrying six people on a guided hunting expedition. By 9:50 a.m., police had received crash reports. Pilot Tim Brown and hunting guide Sean Roach did not survive. The four remaining occupants were located and brought to safety by a swift multi-agency response that included police, rescue helicopter crews, and alpine cliff rescue teams.
The Alpine Group, run by brothers Toby and Jonathan Wallis, described both men as highly experienced and deeply valued members of a close-knit team. The company expressed its devastation publicly and committed to full cooperation with investigators. The loss carries particular resonance for the Wallis family, whose father Sir Tim Wallis was an aviation pioneer — and whose other sons Matthew and Nick died in separate helicopter crashes in 2018.
Cromwell detective sergeant Sarah Waugh confirmed the helicopter was chartered for a hunting operation and that the wreckage would be transported to Wellington for analysis. Both the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and the Civil Aviation Authority have opened formal investigations. What caused two experienced professionals to perish in clear, calm conditions remains the central question investigators must now answer.
On a Sunday morning in May, a helicopter carrying a hunting party descended into the upper Te Naihi River valley in South Westland. The weather was clear. The conditions were calm. By 9:50 a.m., police had received reports of a crash.
The aircraft, a Eurocopter AS350 B3 operated by The Alpine Group, had gone down with six people aboard. Two of them—pilot Tim Brown and hunting guide Sean Roach—did not survive. Both were experienced professionals, the kind of people who had built careers in the demanding work of backcountry aviation and wilderness guiding. The other four occupants, members of the hunting party, were located on the ground and brought to safety.
The Alpine Group, owned by brothers Toby and Jonathan Wallis, released a statement acknowledging the loss with visible weight. "We are devastated to confirm that both pilot Tim Brown and guide Sean Roach were tragically killed," a company spokesperson said. "Both were highly experienced and valued members of a close-knit team." The statement extended condolences to the families and loved ones of the two men, and committed the company to full cooperation with transport investigators seeking to understand what had happened.
The crash unfolded against the backdrop of the company's history. The Alpine Group traces its roots to Sir Tim Wallis, an aviation pioneer whose sons Toby and Jonathan now run the operation. That history carries its own weight: two of Sir Tim's other sons, Matthew and Nick, died in separate helicopter crashes in 2018. The latest accident marks another chapter in a family's long entanglement with aviation risk.
Cromwell detective sergeant Sarah Waugh confirmed the basic facts: the helicopter was chartered, the occupants were on a hunting expedition, and three members of the group had been recovered. The wreckage would be removed in the coming days and transported to Wellington for detailed analysis. Both the Transport Accident Investigation Commission and the Civil Aviation Authority opened formal investigations into the crash.
The response to the emergency was swift. Police, the Rescue Coordination Centre, the Otago Southland Rescue Helicopter Trust, the Queenstown Alpine Cliff Rescue team, and other emergency services mobilized quickly. The Alpine Group acknowledged their work in its statement, a small gesture of gratitude amid the larger reckoning with what had been lost.
As investigators began their work, the focus shifted to the wreckage and the sequence of events that led to the crash in clear weather. The helicopter had been doing routine work—the kind of backcountry operation that happens regularly in New Zealand's high country. What went wrong, and why two experienced men did not walk away, remained to be determined.
Notable Quotes
We are devastated to confirm that both pilot Tim Brown and guide Sean Roach were tragically killed. Both were highly experienced and valued members of a close-knit team.— The Alpine Group spokesperson
The helicopter was a chartered craft, and the occupants were on a hunting trip. Three others from the hunting group were located on the ground and taken to safety.— Cromwell detective sergeant Sarah Waugh
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why does this crash matter beyond the immediate tragedy? These things happen.
They do happen, but not usually in clear, calm conditions with experienced people at the controls. That's what makes this one worth understanding—the absence of obvious explanation.
The company says it will cooperate fully. Do they have a choice?
Legally, yes. But there's something else here. The Wallis family has already buried two sons in helicopter crashes. This isn't abstract risk for them anymore.
How common are these accidents in New Zealand's backcountry?
Common enough that there's an industry around it. But the hunting and guiding operations are supposed to be among the safer uses. You're not pushing the aircraft to its limits. So when it fails anyway, people notice.
What happens to The Alpine Group now?
That depends on what the investigators find. If it's mechanical, they fix it and move forward. If it's something else—procedure, decision-making, maintenance—the company faces harder questions about whether they can continue operating.
And the families of Brown and Roach?
They're left with the investigation, the inquiries, the slow process of understanding why two people who knew what they were doing didn't come home.