One dead in Arrowtown plane crash

A light plane has crashed on the Arrowtown golf course this afternoon. File photo / Thinkstock

A person is dead after a light aircraft crashed in the rough of an Arrowtown Golf Course this afternoon.

The plane, believed to be a Cessna Skyhawk, appeared to have nose-dived into a small embankment, snapping its tail.

Detective sergeant Brian Cameron of Queenstown police confirmed a man was dead and two other patients - a man and a woman - have been taken to Lakes District Hospital.

One person was conscious and talking, while the other was unconscious, he said.
Golfers alerted emergency services to the crashed plane, which nosedived into a small embankment on the eighth hole at approximately 3.15pm.

It was too early to speculate on why the plane crashed, he said.

He confirmed the plane was returning from Invercargil to a private Arrowtown airstrip several hundred metres away from the crash site.

Tarpaulins are in place covering part of the scene. A hearse has also arrived at the golf course.

Ed Lamont, who owns the Mt Soho winery overlooking the golf course, said emergency services had cordoned off an area of the green.

"There's a lot of activity there,'' he said.

The Fire Service was in attendance and a helicopter had "come in and out a couple of times''.

Mr Lamont said he saw a couple of light planes coming and going about 20 minutes before the crash.

The plane may have come from a landing strip on private property next door to the winery, he said.

"It is the whitebait season so there is a bit of activity from Queenstown to the West Coast.''

Mr Lamont said weather conditions were not good.

"We've just had a bit of a front come in and there was a bit of wind, probably 20 or 30 knot gusts from time to time, and just a bit of light rain. So it wasn't terrific conditions.''

- OTAGO DAILY TIMES, APNZ

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