Two people found dead after search for light plane in lower North Island

Monday, 30 September 2019

An Air Force NH-90 helicopter was operating in the eastern side of the Tararua ranges on Monday morning near the end of Putara Rd, Eketahuna.

An instructor and a student, who was just one flight away from becoming a pilot, have been found dead in the search for a light plane that crashed in the lower North Island.

Police said the aircraft wreckagewas found in the northern Tararua Range at 7.30am on Monday.

The men, on board the aircraft, went on a training flight at about Sunday 2.15pm, leaving from Foxpine Aerodome in Foxton and were scheduled to land in Paraparaumu at 8pm.

Foxpine Aerodome owner Keven Roberts said when the pair left on Sunday evening, it was the student's final flight until he could become a fully fledged pilot.

The instructor was very experienced, he said.

Police, LandSAR and Maritime NZ's Rescue Coordination Centre NZ (RCCNZ) had sent out search and rescue teams to look for the light plane and people on Sunday evening and Monday morning.

Two rescue teams are scouring the Tararua Ranges searching for a light plane which went missing with two people on board.

'The Civil Aviation Authority will investigate the crash,' police said.

An airforce chopper and land-based search and rescue crews will search this morning for a light plane that went missing last night north of Wellington.

'Police's thoughts are with the families of the two men involved at this tragic time.'

RCCNZ search and rescue mission coordinator Dave Wilson said it offered 'heartfelt condolences' to the families of the two men.

Police have advised family members and will make inquiries on behalf of the Coroner.

A helicopter and foot searchers are looking for the plane. Maritime New Zealand's communications manager Vince Cholewa says no assumptions are being made about what happened.

On Monday morning an Air Force helicopter carrying a Land Search and Rescue team left Ohakea, flying to the last known location of the missing plane.

Its last detected position on radar, at 2.41pm, was the eastern side of the Tararua Range, west of Eketahuna and 'fairly high in the mountains', said Vince Cholewa, communications manager for Maritime New Zealand.

A second search and rescue team, on foot, was set to leave from Putara Rd.

An Air Force helicopter is actively searching the Tararua Range after a light plane and two people have gone missing.

The people on board, two men from the Kāpiti Coast, were on a training flight.

Cholewa, on Sunday night, said the plane was not expected to have gone over the sea, and that police were in touch with the men's families.

A reporter at the scene says the weather has worsened as heavy rain begins to hit the area.

An Air Force helicopter carrying a Land Search and Rescue team is set to leave Ohakea on Monday morning in search of a light plane and its two passengers which went missing on Sunday night. (file photo)

'The search began because it didn't land when it was supposed to,' he said.

'No assumptions are being made about what has happened.'

A Land Search and Rescue team was organised to go into the search area early on Monday morning but only got as far as Putara Rd before the wreckage was discovered.

The wreckage was located on a slope around 800m south of Ngamaia peak about 2km northwest of Putara Rd.

MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said a strong wind watch had been placed on the Tararua district and Wairarapa, north of Masterton.

The watch was from 4pm to 10pm and severe gales could occur in exposed places, Ferris said.

Rain was likely to come again on Monday afternoon, he said.