My condolences to the family, friends and Wakatipu Aero Club, that mountain flying course is a popular option for all of us here at IAANZ so this news has come as a great shock. All the best for a full recovery Andy, we hope to hear you on the airwaves again soon.
Kaiapoi survivor of crash recovering
08 December 2003
By MICHELLE BROOKER, By
The Kaiapoi father of two, Andrew Glen Wilce, who survived a light plane crash near Queenstown is in a serious but stable condition in Dunedin Hospital after shoulder surgery.
Mr Wilce, 32, who had recently completed his commercial pilot's licence, was having a mountain flying lesson with Wakatipu Aero Club instructor Neil Turner, 28, when their Cessna 172 crashed in rugged mountain terrain 12km from Queenstown, late on Friday afternoon.
Friday's flight was Mr Wilce's fifth training session in Queenstown.
Mr Wilce's mother-in-law, who did not want to be named, told The Press her son-in-law had shoulder surgery and was due to have back surgery tomorrow.
Her daughter, Susan, was at her husband's bedside at Dunedin Hospital last night.
Asked if Mr Wilce would make a full recovery she said: "We hope so, we are just so grateful he is alive."
She expressed her sadness at Mr Turner's death.
Wakatipu Aero Club manager Carlton Campbell said staff and members were "absolutely devastated".
Members of the Queenstown Airport-based club had been at a Christmas barbecue when they heard Mr Turner had been killed.
Mr Campbell said the two pilots had taken advantage of an approaching weather front to train.
Training in "pre-front weather conditions was an important component of mountain training," Mr Campbell said.
Pilots were taught to guide the plane to minimise discomfort and the difficulties of turbulent air.
Mr Turner came to the club two years ago from his home town of Paraparaumu to extend his alpine aviation skills and stayed on to work as an instructor. "He was very neat, meticulous, cautious, quiet, friendly, and gentle," Mr Campbell said. "He was one of those over-all good people."
Tragedy could stop those left behind from talking about the negative sides to a person's personality, but there was nothing about Mr Turner to leave out. Respected as a pilot, Mr Turner was no cowboy, Mr Campbell said.
"He was not a person to take risks with anything like this," he said.
"That is why the eventuality is quite bewildering – he is not someone you would expect to be in these circumstances."
A memorial service for Mr Turner will be held in Queenstown today.
A helicopter and two other small planes had searched along the plane's likely route in the mountainous region east of Lake Wakatipu. The wreckage was spotted about 7.35pm.
A rescue helicopter battled strong winds and poor visibility to lift Mr Wilce off the mountain and rush him to Dunedin Hospital.
The cause of the crash is unknown.
Civil Aviation Authority safety investigator Tom McCready said a mechanical defect was unlikely to have caused the crash.
Mr McCready and a small team that included two local pilots spent more than 12 hours closely examining the wrecked plane and the crash site.
"The aircraft was tidy and very well maintained," he said.
Mr McCready said it appeared the plane had hit a jagged piece of land or rock before "sort of half flying and bouncing" sharply down into a stand of trees.
Mr Wilce was saved because the wing on his side had broken off, tearing one side off the fuselage and allowing him to be thrown clear.
"There were lots of us there today saying he's just lucky ... It could have been a double fatality," he said.
The plane was equipped with dual controls which allows either the instructor or student to fly.
The plane will be lifted out later today and interviews will be conducted over the next few days.
Mr Wilce will be interviewed when he had sufficiently recovered, Mr McCready said.