Police name men killed in Nelson plane crash

Police have named the two people killed in a light aircraft crash near Nelson last week.

Nicholas Charles Taylor, 67, of Alexandra and Alain Henri Copine, 76, from Belgium died after the aircraft crashed in remote terrain near North Castor Peak in the Bryant Range on Tuesday.

“Our thoughts are with the friends and family of those who died,” police said.

Last week, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) opened an inquiry into the crash.

“The two occupants were deceased and the aircraft was destroyed,” it said.

Chief Investigator of Accidents Louise Cook said the inquiry would focus on establishing what happened and why and would identify lessons to improve transport safety.

The aircraft, a Cessna 172P Skyhawk registered ZK-BFQ, departed from Nelson Airport at about 9.10am on Tuesday.

Police were notified shortly before midday that the plane was overdue, prompting a search organised by Maritime New Zealand’s Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

Two rescue helicopters from Nelson and Wellington were deployed before the wreckage was located about 20km northeast of Nelson.

According to Flightradar24, the plane reached an altitude of 944m before dropping to about 550m in 90 seconds.

Flightradar24 data showed the light aircraft’s flight path before it crashed. Image / Flightradar24

The Civil Aviation Authority said it was saddened by the deaths and was working with police and other agencies to establish the circumstances of the incident.

Mayor Nick Smith said there was sadness in Nelson after the loss of two lives.

“Nelson is a small community and any tragedy of this sort does have reverberations right through the family and friends of the deceased, albeit at this stage we do not know whether the victims are in fact from Nelson or from further afield,” he told NZME last week.

Emergency services pulled out all the stops to rescue the passenger and pilot, Smith said.

“But when the news came through last evening that the lives had been lost, [it] compounded the sadness.”

He thanked emergency services for their efforts.