Names of glider crash victims released

The accident happened near Omarama, in North Otago.

Police have released the names of the two people involved in a fatal glider accident in North Otago yesterday.

The man who died in the crash was 54-year-old Ichiro Murai of Japan, Sergeant Tony Woodbridge from Oamaru Police said.

Mr Murai was a keen glider pilot who was visiting New Zealand.

The other man was 68-year-old Englishman Lemuel Edward Norman Tanner, who now lives in Oamaru, and is in a serious but stable condition in Dunedin Hospital.

Mr Woodbridge said both men were experienced glider pilots.

The accident happened on Mount St Cuthbert, near Omarama, 119km northwest of Oamaru, about 2pm yesterday.

The other man in the glider was an instructor from England who now lived in Oamaru.

The accident has hit the gliding community in Oamaru hard.

Mr Tanner had about 22,000 hours of flying experience.

"He's a bit of a legend within the gliding circles up there. Everyone knew him very, very well, so they're hurting," Mr Woodridge said.

"It was a lovely day up there. It was just very, very tragic."

The glider was owned by GlideOmarama.

Its owner Gavin Willis said both pilots were familiar with flying in the area.

They were beginning a training flight when the crash occurred, he told the Otago Daily Times.

The Civil Aviation Authority was investigating the cause of the crash today.

- NZPA