Bodies recovered from chopper crash site

Allan Munro, left, and Jason Wright died when their helicopter crashed into Bluff Harbour yesterday. Photos / Supplied

The bodies of an instructor and a trainee pilot were this afternoon removed from the wreckage of the helicopter which crashed into Bluff Harbour yesterday.

Instructor Jason Wright, 29, of Bluff, and his pupil Allan Munro, 67, of Avondale, 75km north of Invercargill, were found with the submerged but intact Robinson 22 2km southeast of Colyers Island inside the harbour, ending a 24 hour search.

Mr Munro, a farmer, was just one week away from getting his full flying licence.

The two men were found close together, Mr Wright inside the chopper and Mr Munro on a nearby shore.

The Southland Times reported that the helicopter belonged to Mr Munro.

Mr Munro's wife Glennis said her husband had flown aeroplanes for 25 years and was a week away from sitting his helicopter pilot licence test.

"He has flown heaps and heaps of hours (in planes) and he wanted to have a helicopter before he died, so he got a helicopter," she said.

Inspector Olaf Jensen said the deaths had been reported to the coroner and formal identification was likely to be completed tomorrow.

An Invercargill police spokeswoman told NZPA that police had been working closely with the men's families and keeping them updated as best they could.

Mr Jensen praised the work of all personnel involved in the search which numbered around 40 people. Many of them worked long hours being very focused on finding the missing helicopter.

The helicopter had not been heard from since 1.30pm yesterday.

The Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCCNZ) yesterday directed searchers to cover a 1250sq km area in the Awarua region, between Invercargill and Bluff. Helicopters with night vision equipment searched late into the night, but found no sign of the aircraft.

Three helicopters, police, ground searchers, and Coastguard air and marine vessels resumed the search at daybreak today after reports of sightings helped narrow the search area.

RCCNZ senior mission controller Tracey Brickles said rescuers extended their heartfelt sympathies to the families of the two men.

She thanked everyone who had been involved in the search.

Police said that the Civil Aviation Authority had been advised and would take charge of the crash investigation.

An investigator was due on site and a decision would be made around recovery of the helicopter.

NZPA