10 Feb 2009

Microlight crash bodies recovered

3:57 pm on 10 February 2009

The bodies of two men who were on board a microlight plane that crashed in Abel Tasman National Park on Monday have been found and recovered.

Rescue crews were winched down into steep, rugged bush near Totaranui where the aircraft was located on Tuesday morning.

Civil Aviation Authority investigators are on the scene trying to find clues to the cause of the crash.

The microlight came down in Abel Tasman National Park on Monday.

The bodies of the pilot, local man Alex Charles, 44, and a Dutch tourist, as yet unnamed, were found just before 8.30am on Tuesday.

The plane took off from Motueka on a sightseeing trip over Takaka and Howards Hole on Monday but did not return.

Just after 6pm on Monday, aerial searchers spotted a wing in thick bush near Totaranui, but a rescuer who was winched down to the site failed to find the fuselage or any trace of the microlight's occupants.

Ground teams carried out a night search on Monday in the hope of finding survivors.

Three helicopters were used in an aerial search on Tuesday, and an Air Force Iroquois brought in more ground teams.

Search teams found the pod of the aircraft 50 metres from the wing, stuck in trees along with the two bodies.