Aircraft Crash in Canterbury District

Location of incident: Pahau Pass, Organ Range, Hanmer

Incident type: Aircraft Crash

At about 2.12.pm today 9th April police were advised of a rescue beacon activation from the Rescue coordination centre in Wellington. The location was in the Organ Range near Pahau Pass, which is close to state highway 7 near the Hanmer turnoff.
A rescue helicopter was dispatched which tracked the beacon to a Piper light plane which had crashed. Both occupants of the plane appeared to be uninjured and were in the process of walking out from the crash scene. They had left a note on the plane advising rescue services of their intentions. Both were picked up a short distance from the crashed plane and transported to Christchurch hospital for checking.
Further investigation will be completed to establish the cause of the crash and to have the plane moved from its crashed location.