C172 crash near Queenstown
Dec 06, 2003
Civil Aviation Authority investigators are in Queenstown investigating Friday night's light plane crash in which one person died.
Queenstown police say the survivor of the crash, who is in a serious condition in Dunedin Hospital's intensive care unit, was found a short distance from the wreckage and the deceased person was found in the plane.
Investigators will start piecing together the journey of the Cessna 172, which crashed around 5.30pm in the 25 Mile Creek watershed, north-west of Queenstown.
The plane was on routine mountain flying training when it is thought to have come down in heavy rain and strong winds.
When the plane failed to return, two aircraft from the local aero club joined a National Search and Rescue-chartered helicopter in the search for the wreckage, which was located about two hours later.
The wreckage was found in steep and mountainous terrain.
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ONE News sourced from TVNZ, RNZ, Reuters and AAP
They're a good bunch at Wakatipu, sorry to hear that this has happened.