Missing helicopter should not have been flying, say other flyers
05.01.2004
By STUART DYE
A helicopter missing with two people on board in Fiordland was probably the only aircraft flying in the area at the time, as weather conditions were unsuitable, flight operators say.
Aviation industry sources said low cloud meant it was not a day for commercial tourist aircraft to be flying.
"It was time to go home," one Queenstown helicopter operator said.
The bad weather continued to hamper search efforts yesterday.
The pilot of the private four-seater Hughes 369HS is believed to be Campbell Montgomerie of Taupiri, in the Waikato.
His passenger is thought to be a British woman. Both are in their 20s and were on holiday.
Te Anau Department of Conservation duty ranger Alistair Pearce said the pair stayed at the Howden Hut, on the Routeburn Track west of Queenstown, on Friday night after the weather forced their helicopter to land.
The helicopter took off at 7.50am the next day, heading for Milford Sound, and was last heard from an hour later.
National Rescue Co-ordination Centre (NRCC) spokesman Paul Harrison said that by the time the search was suspended at 7 last night searchers had still not been able to get into the higher altitude areas they were interested in, because of poor weather.
The 500sq km search area is a triangle between the Hollyford Valley, the Homer Tunnel and the Milford Airfield.
Six helicopter teams from Te Anau, Milford and Franz Joseph involving about 20 people are involved in the search effort.
"We have been searching between about 4000ft and 5000ft today, well below the area we are interested in," Mr Harrison said.
When the pilot, who had about 300 hours' experience in the helicopter, last made contact with the Milford airfield at 8.50am, he was in cloud about 12km from the Milford airfield and asking for advice on the best route through the mountainous area in the poor flying conditions.
He did not sound distressed and had climbed to 2590m.
The only Hughes 369HS helicopter registered in the Waikato belongs to Featherstone Contracting Ltd of Hamilton.
Campbell Montgomerie is one director, and the others are Ian and Elizabeth Montgomerie of Auckland.
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