Fifty-five years after a plane went missing between Christchurch and Milford Sound, a family searching for it believe they are getting close to the wreckage.
Brian Chadwick's Dragonfly-type plane went missing between Christchurch and Milford Sound on 12 February 1962. Photo: Edna Bates / SUPPLIED Richard Waugh
It was 12 February 1962 when pilot Brian Chadwick took off on a scenic flight in his Dragonfly, never to be seen again.
He had four Australian passengers on the flight: Louis Rowan, Darrell Shiels and newly-weds Elwyn and Valerie Saville.
Despite one of the most extensive aerial searches in New Zealand history, the plane was not found.
Bobbie Reeve, his wife and two sons have searched for the plane in the Hopkins Valley near Twizel since 2008.
Two years ago, they found a shoe high up a valley.
Having just returned from four weeks of searching, Mr Reeve believed they were getting closer.
"We went in purely to go back into where we found the shoe to search, but when he got further in we got a better understanding of how large the country is.
"We're working on the main divide - the mountains go 8000 feet up so we are looking from about 4500 feet down towards the riverbeds," Mr Reeve said.
Mr Reeve started searching for the plane after reading a book about its disappearance.
He may use a helicopter and a magnetometer when they searched again later in the year.
"The whole valley's got to be searched so we need new technology. We can't grid search the whole thing.
"We've searched the Huxley, but now we've got into country that is way above us, there are areas people would have never been before."
Mr Reeve is positive the plane is in the area he is searching.
"We know there was bad weather that day, we've spoken to witnesses who heard and saw the plane over the plains. From our research, we believe we are in the right place.
"The head of the search at the time it went missing told us it won't be out in the open because they did an extensive search - so we know it is in the bush."
Another group searching for the plane, who believe the Dragonfly is on the West Coast, have not searched this year.
Group leader Gavin Grimmer said their main base at Franz Josef burnt down last year, which made things difficult.
"At this point of time we have nothing planned as the weather is so unpredictable. If and when it settles, we will have a look at a search then."
