04.05.05 8.30am
Police overnight found the wreckage of a mail plane, including the cockpit with two bodies inside, that apparently exploded over Taranaki last night.
Residents in the area where wreckage came down spoke of hearing a loud explosion and seeing a ball of fire in the sky.
The Metroliner, flying from Auckland to Blenheim on a scheduled NZ Post return flight, crashed at 10.15 last night about 5km east of Stratford, police said in a statement early today.
Debris had fallen on farmland with substantial pieces of wreckage being found.
Among the pieces of wreckage was the cockpit area found about 12.30am, containing the bodies of the two pilots, police said.
A police scene guard was in place, and police asked those living in the area of East Rd and Stratford Rd to check their properties this morning and contact Stratford police if they found any debris believed to be from the aircraft.
Inspector Tom Ireland of police central communications said it appeared wreckage had been scattered over at least two to three sq km.
Major pieces of wreckage had been found in gullies and wooded areas, with the Fire Service being called in to put out fires.
It was expected the bodies of the two crew would be removed today once the scene had been photographed for the air crash investigation being held to find the cause of the crash.
Police had received about 20 phone calls about the crash, with reports varying from "a ball of fire in the sky", to "a ball of fire on the ground", he told National Radio.
"So at some stage there has been a fire, whether it's been in the air, and a break-up has occurred in the air, or on the ground, that's for the air crash investigators to determine."
He expected some of the cargo would be among the wreckage and he expected efforts would be made to retrieve that during the day.
"In this case the plane's come down from over 20,000 feet, so the impact's been quite substantial and there will of course be debris spread over quite a wide ... field."
Last night's operation had not been difficult, with the Rescue Coordination Centre putting a helicopter up and police getting staff to the area, Mr Ireland said.
"It was just a matter of locating exactly where the aircraft had come to rest, in the major pieces.
"Being in rural farmland, of course, we were very, very lucky that there were no injuries on the ground."
NZ Post spokesman Ian Long said today the plane had been carrying items sent through courier brands Courier Post and Skyroad, largely all destined for Blenheim and Nelson.
The brands were operated by the company Express Couriers, a joint venture between NZ Post and DHL.
The aircraft had been operated by Airworks on behalf of NZ Post.
Rescue Co-ordination Centre spokesman Steve Corbett said the wreckage had been found "roughly on course". Weather conditions had not been great.
A resident in the area told National Radio she had heard what she first thought was a car "screaming up the road", then there had been "an almighty explosion".
Going outside she had seen "a great big ball of fire in the sky above the house, sort of. You could see pieces falling. Something's exploded in the sky."
Another resident said he had heard what sounded like a "big clap of thunder".