Updated: 6:40am – Transport accident investigators are arriving in Queenstown this morning to investigate a tandem skydive that went wrong yesterday.
One of the two jumpers was rescued from Lake Wakatipu, but searchers have so far failed to find the man who had been harnessed to him when the pair crashed into the lake.
Staff from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission will examine the parachute and interview witnesses and representatives of the skydiving company, NZONE.
The company has suspended business during the search.
It is the second accident in less than a year involving NZONE: a tandem jump last January ended in a crash-landing.
Australian parent Experience Co had two instructors and a client die in a mid-air collision three months ago.
Emergency services were called just before 2pm yesterday after the two skydivers landed in the lake near Jack’s Point.
One man was recovered and taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Police, Coastguard and Land Search and Rescue scoured the shore and lake for him and the search is expected to resume at about 9am.
TAIC chief accidents investigator Tim Burfoot said information from the Civil Aviation Authority suggested a parachute could be to blame.
“That’s all that we’ve been told during the notification process so none of that’s been confirmed but obviously those are the facts that investigators will be looking to establish as they arrive tomorrow.
Skydiving operator NZONE said in a statement that the jumpers involved were an experienced instructor, and a male customer.
It has suspended business while the search is ongoing.
It said the rescued man was the instructor, while the passenger is still missing.
WorkSafe has been notified.
ABC reported NZONE’s parent company Experience Co also runs Skydive Mission Beach in the far north of Queensland, whose instructors Peter Dawson and Toby Turner died along with mother-of-eight Kerri Pike in what is thought to be a mid-air crash in October last year.
-RNZ
Featured image: Lake Wakatipu Photo: 123RF
