Missing skydiver search put on hold as Lake Wakatipu proves too deep

Wednesday, 17 January 2018

Tyler Nii was a tennis coach in California. His colleague described him as dedicated and energetic.

Police have put the search for a United States skydiver in Queenstown on hold after finding Lake Wakatipu to be deeper than expected.

Californian man Tyler Nii, 27, disappeared after a NZone tandem skydive jump went wrong and he and his jumpmaster crashed into the lake on January 10.

Nii has not yet been found as the lake is 320m deep and existing sonar equipment can not reach the bottom.

The tandem jumpmaster was found shortly afterwards but Nii has not been located.

The Police National Dive Squad began using sonar equipment to search for Nii this week.

* Sonar equipment set up in search for missing skydiver Tyler Nii

* Colleagues express 'deep sorrow' as Californian tennis coach Tyler Nii presumed dead in skydive crash

* Queenstown helicopter pilot hears about skydivers' crash, puts rescue plan into action**

Sergeant Steve Watt, of Queenstown, said the original estimated depth of 250 metres in the search area was incorrect.

It was found the lake was about 320m and the equipment reached only 300m.

'We needed to get an extra 20m of equipment,' Watt said.

The necessary additional equipment was scheduled to arrive to Queenstown on Wednesday, he said.

'It is flying in [Wednesday], which will allow the dive squad to continue.'

The squad was in the water from 6am on Tuesday in the Jack's Point area.

Police asked other lake users to stay away from the search area.

About 12 boats, a helicopter, two small planes and a jet ski searched the lake for Nii when the crash happened last week.

Nii was a tennis coach and worked for Player Capital Tennis, an amateur sports team in Menlo Park, south of San Francisco.

Police were liaising with Nii's family, who were due to arrive in Queenstown on Wednesday or Thursday.