Post by ZacYates on Aug 24, 2015 8:20:08 GMT 12
Hi all,
After the Hunter at Shoreham and the Swiss show collision, more unsettling news. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11501872
Light aircraft with two people on board missing
6:45 AM Monday Aug 24, 2015
A light aircraft with two people on board is missing after reporting poor weather conditions yesterday afternoon.
The Zenith 601XL aircraft, with a man and a woman on board, made a radio call to the New Plymouth Control Tower at about 4pm, when approximately 40km north east of Whangamomona in Taranaki, Maritime New Zealand said.
Half an hour earlier, the single engine aircraft radioed from Mokau to report poor weather conditions and indicated it was moving inland.
The plane left Whitianga yesterday afternoon, bound for Stratford.
The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) was advised at around 5.30pm that the aircraft was overdue.
A fixed wing aircraft from Hamilton searched along the likely route, detecting what is believed to be a distress beacon signal coming from an area of rugged terrain, around 4km south of Matau.
An RNZAF NH90 helicopter from Okahea flew to area to investigate at 11pm, and searched for four hours but could not detect the distress beacon signal, Maritime New Zealand said.
A two-man police search and rescue team also attempted to reach the area on foot, but without success.
Poor weather conditions in the area made searching challenging, but the search would resume at first light, RCCNZ search and rescue mission coordinator Mike Roberts said.
"There is low visibility which makes searching from the air difficult but we are planning to have a helicopter return to the area shortly after dawn, if conditions allow," he said.
"Daylight will also allow us to better assess if conditions will allow a ground search."
RCCNZ spokesman Steve Randle said a fixed wing aircraft from Hamilton would be back flying over the area today, while the Taranaki rescue helicopter was also at the scene.
"Hopefully the weather conditions will have improved slightly. It was fairly low cloud, low visibility last night," he said on Radio New Zealand this morning.
It would be "the obvious conclusion" that the plane had gone down, he said.
"The aircraft has failed to reach its destination and it's obviously gone past its flight time," he told the broadcaster.
"So the beacon's been detected, the Air Force helicopter couldn't detect that. But there's a search area of about 3sq miles that looks to be the likely focus for today."
The search area consisted of "pretty rugged, hilly terrain", Mr Randle said.
"Again one of the key components will obviously be the weather. Hopefully the cloud lifts a little and we'll get reasonable visibility over that area."
He did not know much about the people on board, other than that they were a man and a woman, he said.
Stratford Aero Club president Nick Furmage said while the search area had been significantly narrowed down, "it is a hard area to search, right in Tiger Country".
The weather was another obstacle in the search efforts this morning. Mr Furmage said it was not ideal for flying or visibility.
"If it improves some of our club members plan to get their planes out and join the search."
Members of the family were at the Stratford Aero Club while the search continued, he said.
An aero club operating out of Whitianga is shocked two of its newest members are missing.
Mercury Bay Aero Club spokesman Tony Turner said the police visited him yesterday, asking questions about the missing pair.
He believed they were in their 50s and from Waitara, northeast of New Plymouth.
- Additional reporting: Ilona Hanne of the Stratford Press
After the Hunter at Shoreham and the Swiss show collision, more unsettling news. www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11501872
Light aircraft with two people on board missing
6:45 AM Monday Aug 24, 2015
A light aircraft with two people on board is missing after reporting poor weather conditions yesterday afternoon.
The Zenith 601XL aircraft, with a man and a woman on board, made a radio call to the New Plymouth Control Tower at about 4pm, when approximately 40km north east of Whangamomona in Taranaki, Maritime New Zealand said.
Half an hour earlier, the single engine aircraft radioed from Mokau to report poor weather conditions and indicated it was moving inland.
The plane left Whitianga yesterday afternoon, bound for Stratford.
The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) was advised at around 5.30pm that the aircraft was overdue.
A fixed wing aircraft from Hamilton searched along the likely route, detecting what is believed to be a distress beacon signal coming from an area of rugged terrain, around 4km south of Matau.
An RNZAF NH90 helicopter from Okahea flew to area to investigate at 11pm, and searched for four hours but could not detect the distress beacon signal, Maritime New Zealand said.
A two-man police search and rescue team also attempted to reach the area on foot, but without success.
Poor weather conditions in the area made searching challenging, but the search would resume at first light, RCCNZ search and rescue mission coordinator Mike Roberts said.
"There is low visibility which makes searching from the air difficult but we are planning to have a helicopter return to the area shortly after dawn, if conditions allow," he said.
"Daylight will also allow us to better assess if conditions will allow a ground search."
RCCNZ spokesman Steve Randle said a fixed wing aircraft from Hamilton would be back flying over the area today, while the Taranaki rescue helicopter was also at the scene.
"Hopefully the weather conditions will have improved slightly. It was fairly low cloud, low visibility last night," he said on Radio New Zealand this morning.
It would be "the obvious conclusion" that the plane had gone down, he said.
"The aircraft has failed to reach its destination and it's obviously gone past its flight time," he told the broadcaster.
"So the beacon's been detected, the Air Force helicopter couldn't detect that. But there's a search area of about 3sq miles that looks to be the likely focus for today."
The search area consisted of "pretty rugged, hilly terrain", Mr Randle said.
"Again one of the key components will obviously be the weather. Hopefully the cloud lifts a little and we'll get reasonable visibility over that area."
He did not know much about the people on board, other than that they were a man and a woman, he said.
Stratford Aero Club president Nick Furmage said while the search area had been significantly narrowed down, "it is a hard area to search, right in Tiger Country".
The weather was another obstacle in the search efforts this morning. Mr Furmage said it was not ideal for flying or visibility.
"If it improves some of our club members plan to get their planes out and join the search."
Members of the family were at the Stratford Aero Club while the search continued, he said.
An aero club operating out of Whitianga is shocked two of its newest members are missing.
Mercury Bay Aero Club spokesman Tony Turner said the police visited him yesterday, asking questions about the missing pair.
He believed they were in their 50s and from Waitara, northeast of New Plymouth.
- Additional reporting: Ilona Hanne of the Stratford Press
