Pilot charged after claiming plane lost in sea crash

An Ashburton pilot who in 2004 said he was forced to ditch his plane into seas off South Canterbury appeared in court today on a fraud charge relating to the alleged crash.

Detective Dylan Murray, of Timaru police, said Howard Laurence Jamison had been charged with using a document to obtain a pecuniary advantage, in relation to the reported air crash in July 2004.

It was reported at the time that just before 7pm on July 29, 2004 Jamison stopped a motorist and contacted emergency services to report the crash.

He said he had made his way ashore after being forced to crash land his 1969 Cessna 185 in the sea off the coast of the Clandeboye area, about 13km northeast of Temuka.

He spent a night in Ashburton Hospital before being released in a neck brace and limping.

Jamison told a newspaper he used a false floor in the plane as a surfboard to get ashore.

He described his descent as a landing without engine power, rather than a crash.

"I didn't just fall out of the sky -- it was a glide and I have landed in water. But in doing that it was a very fast deceleration once I hit the water," he said.

"The sea was pretty rough that night. I'd hate to think what the outcome might have been if I had to swim to shore."

Attempts to locate the ditched plane off the South Canterbury coast were unsuccessful.

Jamison appeared in Timaru District Court today and was remanded without plea until early February.

- NZPA