Two men have been found dead in the search for a light plane that crashed in the lower North Island.
Police said the wreckage of a light aircraft was 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 and was scheduled to land at Paraparaumu at 8pm.
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.
“The Civil Aviation Authority will investigate the crash,” police said.
“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.
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.
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.
“The search began because it didn’t land when it was supposed to,” he said.
“No assumptions are being made about what has happened.”
MetService meteorologist Lewis Ferris said a strong wind watch had been placed on the Tararua district and Wairarapa, north of Masterton.
The strong wind 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.
Source - Stuff
