Investigators are working to preserve crucial evidence from the wreckage of a light aircraft that crashed near Nelson yesterday, killing two people.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has opened an inquiry into the crash, which claimed two lives in remote terrain near North Castor Peak in the Bryant Range.
“The two occupants were deceased and the aircraft was destroyed,” TAIC said in a release this afternoon.
TAIC has appointed two investigators, whose priority will be to preserve evidence that could “disappear or change”.
The evidence includes the condition of the wreckage, electronic records and people’s recollections.
Chief investigator of accidents Louise Cook said the inquiry would focus on establishing what happened and why, and identifying lessons to improve transport safety.
The aircraft, a Cessna 172P Skyhawk registered ZK-BFQ, departed Nelson Airport about 9.10am yesterday.
Police were notified shortly before midday that the plane was overdue, prompting a search co-ordinated by Maritime New Zealand’s Rescue Co-ordination Centre.
Two rescue helicopters from Nelson and Wellington were deployed before the wreckage was located about 20km northeast of Nelson.
According to Flightradar24, the plane reached an altitude of 944m before dropping to about 550m in 90 seconds.
Nelson area commander Steven Collins confirmed the deaths yesterday, saying work was ongoing to recover the bodies and examine the crash scene.
The Civil Aviation Authority said it was saddened by the deaths and was working with police and other agencies to establish the circumstances of the incident.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said there was sadness in Nelson after the loss of two lives.
“Nelson is a small community and any tragedy of this sort does have reverberations right through the family and friends of the deceased, albeit at this stage we do not know whether the victims are in fact from Nelson or from further afield,” he told NZME this morning.
Emergency services pulled out all the stops to rescue the passenger and pilot yesterday, Smith said.
“But when the news came through last evening that the lives had been lost, [it] compounded the sadness.”
He thanked emergency services for their efforts.