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| NZ helicopter crash: Four Britons among dead - UK Foreign Office | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 22 Nov 2015, 12:09 AM (39 Views) | |
| skibboy | 22 Nov 2015, 12:09 AM Post #1 |
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NZ helicopter crash: Four Britons among dead - UK Foreign Office 21 minutes ago ![]() All six passengers and the pilot are believed to have been killed in the crash Four Britons were among seven people killed in a helicopter crash in New Zealand, the UK Foreign Office has confirmed. 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. Rescue teams in helicopters reached the crash site but found no sign of survivors, rescue co-ordinators said. A Foreign Office spokesman also said next of kin had been informed. "We can confirm the deaths of four British nationals in New Zealand on 21 November. We are liaising closely with local authorities, and are providing consular assistance to the families of those affected." Bad weather Two Australians are also believed to have died on the glacier on the remote west coast of South Island, which is popular with tourists. The helicopter that crashed is believed to be a Eurocopter "Squirrel" operated by local firm Alpine Adventures. The recovery operation has been hampered by bad weather, but is expected to resume on Sunday, New Zealand Police said. ![]() Inspector John Canning said: "Police received a phone call this morning [Saturday] to say that there was a helicopter missing at the top of the Fox glacier, subsequently we've had rescue helicopter up there and discovered the wreckage of an aircraft up there. "The aircraft was carrying the pilot and six passengers. There is no sign of life up at the scene, and tomorrow when the weather improves we'll be going back into the scene to recover the bodies of the passengers and the pilot. " Formal identification of those killed would take some time, a spokesman added. ![]() Fox Glacier, on the remote west coast of South Island, is visited by thousands of tourists each year "Police have been liaising with the embassies of the countries concerned to ensure the next of kin are advised of the situation," they said. The cause of the crash is being investigated. The Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand said it sent four rescue helicopters to the scene, including one with a cliff rescue team on board. Source:
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| skibboy | 23 Nov 2015, 03:57 AM Post #2 |
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23 November 2015 Bad weather stalls hunt for New Zealand chopper crash clues © New Zealand Police/AFP/File | The remains of a helicopter that crashed on the Fox Glacier, a popular tourist site on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island on November 21, 2015 WELLINGTON (AFP) - Investigators admitted Monday they were "a long, long way" from knowing why a sightseeing helicopter crashed into a New Zealand glacier, killing all seven people on board. As bad weather halted efforts to recover more bodies from the chopper's wreckage at Fox Glacier, on the west coast of the South Island, it was revealed no mayday was sent from the helicopter before Saturday's crash. Four British and two Australian tourists, as well as their New Zealand pilot, died when the helicopter plunged into the heavily-crevassed glacier during bad weather. "We are a long, long way from identifying the circumstances and causes of this accident," Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) investigator Peter Northcote said. Northcote said a full probe into the accident could take 18 months, with the immediate hunt for clues on hold due to poor weather at the crash site. Specialist alpine rescuers managed to recover three bodies on Sunday but inspector John Canning said conditions were now not expected to clear until Wednesday. "We've done the easy bits with the recovery so far from helicopters, but now we've got to put boots on the ice," he told reporters. "To do that we're going to have to build a staging point and put equipment in place so that we can get our workers across there safely." Alpine rescue team leader Marius Bron said ice on the glacier was loosely packed and constantly moving, with crevasses up to 20 metres (66 feet) deep. "If you imagine a giant bowl of popcorn, the ice is all stacked up and unstable, there's lots of gaps in there, that's what we're dealing with," he said. The dead were identified as Britons Andrew Virco, 50, and Katharine Walker, 51, of Cambridge; Nigel Edwin Charlton, 66, and Cynthia Charlton of Hampshire; along with Australians Sovannmony Leang, 27, and Josephine Gibson, 29, from Sydney. Police were only alerted when the helicopter's emergency locator beacon was activated late Saturday morning. Debris was later found scattered over several hundred metres with the main part of the helicopter wedged between house-sized blocks of ice. The 13-kilometre-long (eight-mile) Fox Glacier is listed as one of the world's most accessible glaciers and attracts thousands of tourists each year. There was another aviation crash in the area in September 2010, when nine people died after a skydiving plane plunged to the ground then burst into flames shortly after takeoff. Source:
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2:02 AM Jul 11