Crashed glider found

Searchers have found the wreckage of the glider that went missing after taking off from Omarama yesterday at 1pm.

The pilot was the only person in the glider and did not survive the crash. Police will release his name after advising next of kin.

The crash site is in the Ben Ohau Range, North West of Twizel. It was found by one of eight searching aircraft at about 7pm today.

The cause of the crash is as yet unknown and the accident has been referred to the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA).

At 8.20pm last night Omarama Gliding advised the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) the glider was missing and RCCNZ began coordinating the search, using an aircraft to take advantage what light was still available.

The glider had been self-launched using a small motor. Yesterday, the pilot made radio contact at 2.06pm and the glider was last sighted at 3.45pm flying north of Omarama.

This morning RCCNZ dispatched six aircraft to search the area between Mt Cook and Roxburgh, approximately a 120km radius circle centred on Omarama. This afternoon two helicopters joined the search in addition to the fixed wing aircraft.

Gliding New Zealand provided observers for the search aircraft and an advisor at the RCCNZ.

Two helicopters were also on stand-by, one with an ICU paramedic and the other with an alpine cliff rescue team.

The search was difficult because the glider pilot had not left a flight plan nor asked for flight following. He was carrying a personal locator beacon, which is manually operated and was not activated. The glider was not fitted with an emergency location transmitter that would activate automatically.

This is the last media release Maritime New Zealand will issue. Further information may be available form Police and CAA.

ENDS

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