Police believe all seven on board a helicopter that crashed on the west coast of South Island – including two Australians, four British tourists and the pilot – were killed.
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Six travelers and their pilot were killed when their helicopter collided with an intensely crevassed ice sheet in New Zealand amid awful climate on Saturday, police said.
Friends of the family said Ms Walker – who was the head of radiotherapy at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge – was on the “trip of a lifetime” with Mr Virco.
“Kath was a much respected member of staff who had worked at Addenbrooke’s for 23 years”, he said.
A helicopter pilot made no mayday call before crashing into Fox Glacier, killing all seven on board.
The British victims of the crash are Andrew Virco, 50, and Katharine Walker, 51, from Cambridge, along with Nigel Charlton, 66, and Cynthia Charlton, 70, from Hampshire.
Paramedics and an alpine rescue team on the scene had to be winched down to the crash site to confirm there were no survivors, Sky News reported.
The recovery operation has been hampered by bad weather, but is expected to resume on Sunday, New Zealand Police says. “When the weather gets to a certain point, if one company says ‘no, we’re not flying due to the weather, ‘ everybody shuts down”.
Describing conditions in the top sections of the glacier as “very risky”, police inspector John Canning said: “It is pitted with crevasses”.
Because the area is known as one with the most access for viewing and traversing glaciers, it attracts about 30,000 visitors annually. “While we’re determined to return these people to their families, this will be a complex and technical task with an emphasis on the safety of those involved”.
A UK Foreign Office spokesman said: “We are providing consular assistance to their families at this hard time”.
Continuing rain and low cloud hindered recovery efforts until a break in the weather late today morning allowed helicopters to take the specialist recovery team to the site of the disaster near the top of the glacier.
It comes after the name of the craft’s pilot, 28-year-old Mitch Gameren, was revealed in the hours following the fatal accident.
The Charltons were also on holiday at the time of the crash and were planning to go to Burma after New Zealand. The pilot was a very valued member of our team.
The chopper that crashed is considered to be a Eurocopter “Squirrel” managed by local business Alpine Adventures.
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Meanwhile the small West Coast community of Fox Glacier is reeling at the second major air accident in five years, following a skydiving plane crash in 2010 that cost nine lives.
