BORDEAUX , FRANCE (AFP)
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."
"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 Saturday.
The fatal crash occurred December 20 during a helicopter
tour of the prestigious Chateau de la Riviere estate that was to be followed by
an elite tea- and wine-tasting retreat.
Kok was accompanied by his 12-year-old son, his financial
advisor 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 following weeks.
Auger noted the flight had taken off late on a winter
afternoon, when darkness had nearly fallen and visibility was limited.
There had been concerns that the pilot had been drinking.
Augur said that his alcohol consumption was "a contributing but not
principal factor."
Kok finalised purchase of the 65 hectare estate for 30
million euros ($33 million) the day before the accident.
He was the latest Chinese investor to acquire a vineyard in
Bordeaux's Fronsac wine-producing region, close to the prestigious
Saint-Emilion domain.
Wealthy Chinese have developed a taste for fine French
wines, and their buying power has been credited with pushing prices for certain
vintages to record levels. They are also now acquiring French vineyards.
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Chinese billionaire killed in helicopter crash as he tours newly-acquired French vineyard
A Chinese billionaire and a French wine maker have been
killed in a helicopter crash after going on a flight to celebrate the sale of
an historic Bordeaux chateau.
Lam Kok, 46, a hotel magnate who had diversified into the
upmarket wine trade, was killed along with his 12-year-old son when the
helicopter plunged into the Dordogne River near the town of Lugon-et-l’ile-du-Carnay.
The helicopter was being piloted by James Gregoire, who had
sold Mr Kok the 150-acre Chateau de La Riviere just hours earlier on Friday. A
further body, believed to be that of an interpreter, was recovered during
police searches that continued yesterday.
Mr Lam’s wife, Liu Xiangyun, who had posed for photographs
with the two men earlier in the day, pulled out of the flight at the last
minute, saying she was “scared of helicopters”, according to eyewitnesses. By
an unusual twist of fate, a previous owner of the Chateau de la Riviere was
also killed in an aircraft crash in 2002.
Mr Gregoire’s helicopter was on a short tour of the vineyard
and the grounds of the chateau, which dates back to the 8th century and is
associated with Emperor Charlemagne, also known as the King of the Franks.
Earlier in the day, Mr Gregoire had introduced Mr Lam to the
chateau staff and hosted a dinner for him, as well as putting on a press
conference for local media. When the helicopter flight did not return after 20
minutes, other people at the event contacted emergency services, who launched a
search using emergency helicopters, police dogs and around 100 officers on
foot. Witnesses to the crash said that shortly afterwards, they saw two people
struggling in the river, which was in full winter flow.
Michel Galardini, 58, a local duck hunter, told the local
newspaper, Sud Ouest: “The helicopter was flying very low, only 10 or 15 metres
over the water. I thought that was a bit strange.”
A few minutes later, he added, he heard a “deafening crash”.
“There was a huge amount of foam and I could see two people struggling in the
water.”
Officials from the French gendarmerie said that mangled
parts of the chopper’s fuselage had been retrieved, but that strong currents in
the icy waters were complicating the search for the three missing.
Hong Kong-based Mr Lam and his wife were chief executive and
president respectively of Brilliant Group, which originally specialised in rare
teas and luxury hotels in China. Their purchase of the chateau was the biggest
Chinese investment to date in Bordeaux wine, reflecting a growing taste for
luxury vintages in newly-affluent China that has pushed wine prices to record
levels.
Chinese entrepreneurs have already snapped several dozen
other French chateaux in Bordeaux, where well-known vintages such as Pétrus are
now hugely in demand among status-conscious businessmen in Shanghai and
Beijing. As Mr Gregoire, who bought the Chateau de la Riviere in 2003, remarked
in an interview in 2007: “A bottle of Pétrus or a Château d’Yquem can sell at
any price in China. It is a symbol of wealth.”
The Chateau de La Riviere was also regarded as a highly
prized piece of real estate in its own right. Built in the 16th century on the
remains of a fortified tower constructed by Charlemagne, it has turrets,
gargoyles and commanding views of the Dordogne valley, a region known for its
spectacular gorges and fine foie gras.
The chateau also has nearly 20 miles of tunnels running
underneath it, which are used to store nearly a million bottles of wine, which
sell at around £30 a time. Mr Lam and his wife, who are believed bought the
Chateau de La Riviere for around £25 million, planned to turn it into a high
class tea and wine tasting centre, and also build a hotel near its vineyard.
Mr Lam had also twinned his home town in China with the town
of Libourne, 20 miles from the city of Bordeaux itself, and the regional centre
for the Saint-Émilion and Pomerol vineyards.
Otherwise, relatively little was known about him and his
wife, who, like many Chinese plutocrats, guarded their privacy jealously. Mrs
Liu grew up in the south western Chinese province of Yunnan, where she was also
a helped advise the local Communist party. That also made her well-placed to
trade in the province’s speciality, Pu’er tea. Together with her husband, she
created a series of luxury resorts nestled in the tea plantations, with rooms
at £400 a night complete with an English-speaking butler for foreign guests.
In a rare interview with Hong Kong’s New Weekly business
magazine, Mrs Liu said of her husband: “He is in charge of managing the money.
I know how to make the money.” Her husband added: “She sets the vision, I am
more rational.”
A Chinese consular delegation was expected at the chateau
yesterday to assist Mr Lam’s surviving relatives.