$4.50 flight plan might have saved couple's lives

A $4.50 flight plan could have saved the lives of a couple whose light aircraft crashed off north Canterbury on Sunday.

Rescue authorities said today it was not a well planned flight and they were not told the aircraft was missing until Monday morning.

Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said had a flight plan been filed a search would have started within 30 minutes of the aircraft failing to land on time.

On Monday, as aviation experts began to work out the most likely search area, the body of Marian D'Eve was found washed up on Amberley Beach in Pegasus Bay, north of Christchurch.

Businessman Dr Russell Smith's body was found about an hour later and parts of the aircraft were found soon after.

The couple had been heading from Nelson to their property at Kirwee, west of Christchurch.

Mr Sommer said the aircraft disappeared off radar on its descent but that was not unusual and not an automatic cause for concern.

"It is not compulsory to file a flight plan but we are looking at whether it should go back to being compulsory if you are going more than a certain distance from your home base."

He said a flight plan may not have saved Dr Smith and Ms D'Eve but it would meant the search for them would have begun within minutes and not the next day.

That would have increased their chances of being found alive if they survived the crash into the sea, he said.

"It is commonsense. You can put it in via the internet, you can fax it or phone it in and it is $4.50."

Dr Smith may also not have had updated Canterbury weather details when he took off from Nelson, he said.

"There is not a lot of planning gone into this flight. The weather in Christchurch was pretty tatty," Mr Sommer added.

The pilot of at least one other small aircraft cancelled his flight into Christchurch because the weather was bad, he said.

He said the CAA's strong recommendation was for the pilots of small aircraft to file flight plans.

"It saves lives," Mr Sommer said. "A $4.50 flight plan is really the best life insurance around."

- NZPA