Search on for another missing helicopter
11.01.2004 9.15am
A search is underway this morning for a helicopter missing in the central North Island.
The Robinson R22 took off from Taupo with two people on board around lunchtime yesterday.
Police and the National Rescue Co-ordination Centre are asking for help from members of the public for any information on the chopper, which has the call sign HXT.
It is the second helicopter to go missing recently, with the search for a Hughes helicopter that disappeared in the Milford Sound area called off yesterday morning. The pilot and an English tourist aboard have not been found.
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also
Helicopter Disappearance Baffling
11/01/2004 12:53 PM
NewstalkZB
Search coordinators are baffled by the disappearance of a helicopter in the last 30 minutes of its flight.
The Robinson 22 chopper left Taupo with two people on board around eleven o'clock yesterday morning.
It was en route to Te Puke with a flight time of less than one hour.
National Rescue Coordination Centre spokesman Jim McLean says they're still trying to define a search area.
He says the helicopter last made contact at 11.21, confirming with Taupo it was heading to Te Puke.
He says there is a report it did enter the area around Rotorua.
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