One tramper died near Arthur's Pass and another was airlifted out to Franz Josef Glacier this morning after spending a night seriously injured in a separate backcountry accident.

Fisherman tells of desperate attempts to stay in contact with those on board the charter boat Francie, which sank in heaving seas, claiming eight lives.

The search for the man still missing after the Francie capsized in the Kaipara Harbour is continuing.

A survivor of the Kaipara Harbour disaster was too big for the lifejackets, and desperately clung to the flotation devices while he swam to shore badly injured.

Bill McNatty, 68, was familiar with the water, worked hard to pay off his boat and spent a good chunk of the past three years taking people out fishing.

Choppy conditions face searchers looking for three people missing after a fishing charter trip turned to tragedy on the Kaipara Harbour yesterday.

The best of NZ Herald Business: Brazilian plane maker Embraer has developed a twin jet airlifter that is in the running to replace the RNZAF's aging Hercules.

COMMENT: Three major shakes in South Island in the last six years, have highlighted how the enemy we are most likely to have to front is the one within.

The trampers who died in the Tararua Forest Park were found within 1km of the hut they were heading to, police say. The 39-year-old

Residents of Collina Terrace in Central Wellington have been allowed to briefly return to their houses to collect essential possessions.

A young woman was winched by helicopter after rising tides trapped her on a cliff at Kawakawa Bay, south east of Auckland.

Two fishermen spend hours in the water and are rescued by the last boat crossing the Whakatane bar.

Two cattle and a calf which survived yesterday's earthquake should be allowed to retire and live out their days in a sanctuary, animal rights group Peta says.

The truck driver who narrowly escaped being buried in the quake won't be in the dog box for calling his boss before his partner.

Richie McCaw, who has been airlifting stranded tourists out of Kaikoura, says the devastation from the air looks "pretty crazy".

A search is underway for six kayakers after kayaks and other gear was found abandoned on the flooded Clarence River just before 5pm. A

Three fishermen missing at sea for more than a week have been found alive by the RNZAF.

A_JS311016NADCHPR226.JPGA specialist cliff rescue team recovered the bodies of two men killed in a helicopter crash into dense bush

The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter gave Daniel Lee a second chance at life and now he wants others to be able to get that opportunity

Source: CCTV News. Liang Lee didn't stop for a second to worry about his own life as he scaled several floors of apartment block to rescue a small dangling boy after his head became wedged in the window bars

An American tramper who survived four nights in the Kiwi wilderness with her mother has had a lasting memory of the near-tragedy inked on her body.

A Kiwi firefighter will help train Syria's 'White Helmet' civil defence workers who help in the aftermath of missile strikes and attacks.

Trampers in trouble kept rescuers busy over Labour Weekend - but most had done the right thing.

A search and rescue operation just outside Arrowtown yesterday was the third in the wider Queenstown area within a week.

A kayaker fishing off the Waitara River owes his life to a Scottish man who went out to find him after the kayaker's friends noticed he was missing.

A mother and her sons are being treated for hypothermia after a "miserable night" in cold, wet conditions in the Tararua Range.

A full investigation has been launched into a Tongariro Crossing "debacle" in which two students could have died.

Police call school group errors on treacherous mountain a "debacle", where leader didn't even know students were missing.

It is a case that has captivated the world for more than two decades. A top cop believes he finally knows what happened to missing toddler Ben Needham.

John Funnell was the search-and-rescue pilot who has saved the lives of thousands of victims, clocking up a staggering 19,000 hours of flight time.