Plane wreckage lifted from Lake Taupo (+ video)

The wreckage of the plane which crashed in Lake Taupo this week was removed by helicopter this morning.

The tail section of a skydiving aircraft which crashed into Lake Taupo on Wednesday has been lifted out of the water by a helicopter this morning.

A police dive squad working with the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) yesterday surveyed, videoed and photographed the wreckage of the aircraft after it plummeted from the sky following a suspected engine failure.

Remains of the aircraft, which had broken into three pieces, will being taken out of the lake one piece at a time.

All six skydivers, their six instructors and the pilot of Skydive Taupo's Pacific Aerospace 750XL were forced to abandon the plane at 2000ft before it crashed in to the lake near Rotongaio Bay.The salvage effort is expected to take several hours.

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A spokesman for the Lake Taupo Harbourmaster's office, Jono Unuwai, said the aircraft's engine had been lifted out of the water by the harbourmaster's barge and the remains of the aircraft, which had broken into three pieces, was being taken out of the lake one piece at a time by a helicopter.

The plane's engine lifted from the water.

A dive crew had spent the morning in the water securing the three pieces of the aircraft, he said. TAIC spokesman Peter Northcote yesterday said it was hoped that the aircraft's engine data recorder could be successfully retrieved so it could then be taken to Australia, where its contents would be downloaded by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

The engine is likely to be airfreighted under seal to its Canadian manufacturer for stripping and examination under the supervision of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

- NZME bm lb