Seven people on board a tourist helicopter that crashed during a flight to New Zealand’s famous Fox Glacier have been confirmed dead by police, according to the Associated Press.
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Searchers in New Zealand have started to recover bodies from the crash site of a sightseeing helicopter that went down over a glacier with seven people aboard, police said.
Weather conditions were reportedly cloudy and rainy at the time of the crash.
Then on Saturday, the Gameren’s family read of the Fox Glacier tragedy online and had “hoped it wasn’t Mitch”.
Nine people died in 2010 when a skydiving plane crashed near the same glacier.
A police spokeswoman says it’s likely the pilot will be formally named on Sunday but it may be longer before the names of the foreign tourists are released.
“The investigation team has reviewed initial scene photography and is working in conjunction with the police recovery operation, LandSAR, Alpine Cliff Rescue, and helicopter operators”, Mr Northcote said in a statement this morning.
Fox Glacier is on the remote west coast of New Zealand’s south island and is visited by thousands of tourists each year.
The single-engine Squirrel helicopter was operated by Alpine Adventures, which provides scenic flights and landings on the glacier.
The aircraft came down and landed in a crevasse on the Fox Glacier, on the country’s South Island, on Saturday morning at about 11:00 local time.
The downed helicopter was reported to belong to Alpine Adventures.
Mitch Gameren and six tourists died when his helicopter slammed into Fox Glacier.
Inspector John Canning told Stuff: “I’m not going to risk any more lives, we’ve lost seven”.
Mr Nolan understood police were helping the victims’ families liaise with the Australian and British embassies.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has invited the United Kingdom and Australia to appoint a representative to help in the investigation into the crash because their nationals were passengers.
“My sympathies are with the families of the crash victims at this very distressing time”, Ms Bishop said.
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UPDATE 2: The recovery of the helicopter has been moved by another day and will now be recovered on Sunday.
