Missing Helicopter - Wanaka

Police and navy dive squads using underwater sonar and camera equipment are continuing the Lake Wanaka search for missing helicopter pilot Morgan Saxton and the Robinson R22 helicopter he was flying.
Specialist operators made a side-scan sonar search of the area near Mou Waho Island in which an oil slick and some helicopter debris was found on Saturday night and Sunday.

'We have identified some potential targets, but there is still considerable work to be done before we will know whether or not they are what we're looking for,' Wanaka police station head Sgt Aaron Nicholson said.
Navy diving team commander Lt. Commander Andrew McMillan said searching the glacial lake, which is 300m deep in places, presented unique problems and was 'extremely challenging' for the team.

'Our sonar equipment is designed to work on the relatively flat surfaces of the ocean bed. Working on the steep sides of Lake Wanaka can present false readings and make the data harder to analyse and less reliable,' he said. 'This is a slow, thorough and deliberate process.'

Marginal weather and rough lake conditions are also creating problems for the search.
The sonar delivers images which are akin to those from an ultrasound.

Work using a 'REMUS' - remote environmental measuring unit - which can operate at depths of up to 100m - will continue tonight.

Mr Saxton, 31, went missing on Saturday evening while ferrying his R22 from Haast to Cromwell. An intensive three day ground and lake search discovered various items of debris believed to be from the helicopter.