Four Britons dead after helicopter crash in New Zealand

A search and rescue team in the NZCC Rescue Helicopter recovered three of the victims this morning (Sunday) during a brief lull in the bad weather which has beset the area.

The glacier’s in a remote location, and recovery of the bodies could take a number of days, police said.

Gameren was passionate about flying and had racked up nearly 3000 flying hours around the world, including for a safari operator in Botswana and more recently as a Medivac pilot in Malaysia.

“Today we lost a champion”.

The nationalities of those killed are not yet known and efforts to recover their bodies could take a few time, due to the bad weather.

“A helicopter has crashed off Fox Glacier”. A dark scorch mark is also visible over the area where the helicopter made impact with the glacier.

“Four helicopters have been dispatched to the scene of the crash”.

A drone is scheduled to fly above Fox Glacier to gather information on the wreckage and it is expected that a helicopter will be used to haul the wrecked machine out of the crevasse where it is wedged and lift it off the glacier.

Nine people – five New Zealanders and tourists from Australia, England, Ireland and Germany died – when a skydiving plane crashed shortly after take-off at Fox Glacier airport in 2010. There isn’t any indication of life up in the scene, and tomorrow when the elements improves we’ll be going back to the scene to recover the bodies of the pilot as well as the passengers.

The young pilot’s sister, Brooke, posted an emotional tribute to him on Facebook.

He told the New Zealand Herald: ‘He loved the outdoors.

The West Coast relies heavily on tourism now that mining is in decline.

The New Zealand pilot Mitch Gameren, who was 28, also died.

‘It’s very sad news.

“My sympathies are with the families of the crash victims at this very distressing time”, Ms Bishop said.

Two Australians from New South Wales are confirmed to have died in the helicopter accident that took place on Saturday at New Zealand’s Fox Glacier.

Prime Minister John Key said he had expressed his condolences to Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull over the deaths of two Australians in the crash. Police said they were attempting to notify relatives before releasing the identities or nationalities of the victims.

“Police have been liaising with the embassies of the countries concerned to ensure the next of kin are advised of the situation”, the statement reads.

UPDATE 1: The helicopter have been identified and is said to be operated by private aviation company Alpine Adventures and is an Eurocopter of the “Squirrel” make type.