KEY POINTS:
It could be several days before police and aviation investigators are able to remove the wreckage from yesterday's mid-air collision north of Wellington that claimed three lives.
A helicopter and Cessna light plane collided about 11.15am above Paraparaumu on the Kapiti Coast, killing three men.
Two were in
the Helipro helicopter and died instantly. The pilot and sole occupant of the light plane, a Kapiti Aero Club Cessna 152, was flown to Wellington Hospital with multiple injuries but died late yesterday afternoon.
The names of the men were yet to be released by police, pending formal investigation, but Palmerston North based Square Trust Rescue Helicopter spokesman John Funnell said one of the men in the helicopter was experienced pilot Dave Fielding.
The other was a trainee pilot.
Mr Funnell said Mr Fielding was "a great pilot with a great attitude" and his death was a huge loss to the rescue helicopter community.
He was survived by a partner and three-month-old daughter.
After colliding the aircraft crashed in two locations, 200 metres apart.
Neither caught fire.
The helicopter fell through the roof of a timber yard at Placemakers, while the light plane hit the roof of a house and crash down in Dennis Taylor Court, a residential cul-de-sac.
Inspector John Spence, Kapiti Mana Area Police Commander said debris was scattered over commercial and residential areas.
Police were appealing to residents not to touch anything and to call Kapiti police if they found crash items on their properties.
"Recording where the items are found and then properly securing them for later analysis will help investigators find out how the crash happened," he said.
"It could be several days before the main wreckage is able to be removed."
The Wellington coroner and pathologists were at both crash scenes last night.
Specialist police disaster victim identification teams were working last night to remove the two bodies from the helicopter at Placemakers.
Mr Spence said it would be a difficult job that could take some time.
Security guards were at both scenes overnight.
In Dennis Taylor Court the Cessna fuselage remained upside down in the cul-de-sac. A propeller and engine ploughed through the roof of a house.
Mr Spence said it was extremely fortunate that nobody on the ground at either crash site was injured.
"This crash is a huge tragedy for the families of the men involved, and for the wider community," Mr Spence said.
"We feel for the families and friends of those who have died, and also for those who witnessed the crash, or fled for their lives as the wreckage fell from the skies."
Car salesman Cameron Nathanson was standing in a friend's backyard when he heard the two aircraft collide.
"I heard a bang and looked up and the thing was disintegrating, it's hard to describe the noise, it was just haunting," he told NZPA.
"We saw wings and debris flying absolutely everywhere.
"I couldn't believe it, we were just standing there with our mouths open, we were speechless."
Eyewitness Anne Russell said she was watching the aircraft and thought they were getting too close to each other, the Stuff website reported.
"Then the left wing of the plane heading west toward the airport clipped the tail of the helicopter that was heading south - broke the wing off the plane which spun to the ground. The chopper seemed to carry on in a straight line for a brief moment, then plummeted straight down to the ground at high speed.
"The scream of the chopper falling will haunt me for a while."
Ben Magee, an 18-year-old surf lifesaver from Australia's Gold Coast who was holidaying in Paraparaumu found himself helping free the pilot from the plane wreckage.
"The plane was upside down and there was a young guy in there, probably about 20-23yrs. When I first got there he was not moving but I could hear him breathing."
Mr Spence said there had been "an incredible response" by local residents and businesses as well as police, Civil Aviation, all emergency services, Victim Support and the Kapiti Coast District Council.
- NZPA