13 Jul 2012

Body of NZ pilot found in PNG

9:20 pm on 13 July 2012

Searchers have found the bodies of a New Zealand helicopter pilot and two Australians who have been missing in Papua New Guinea for a week.

Anthony Annan, 49, and his two Australian colleagues, employees of the aviation charter company, Hevilift, were last heard from in a mayday call on 6 July.

The missing helicopter and the three dead crew members were found on 13 July.

Hevilift says the wreckage indicates a crash landing.

The company says staff safety is the highest priority and it has rigourous maintenance schedules in place for all its aircraft.

Clues to where the helicopter crashed came after six days when a villager searching a river in the area found pieces of plastic that come from a kind of storage container usually kept in Hevilift helicopters. This allowed the search area to be narrowed.