Shooter Dead In Crashed Plane

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31323, 20 March 1967, Page 1

Shooter Dead In Crashed Plane

(New Zealand Press Association)

INVERCARGILL, March 19. A 34-year-old professional shooter was found dead in his crashed plane high in the Humboldt mountains, near the Harris saddle, in the lower Hollyford area of Fiordland, on Saturday. The plane, an Auster, is believed to have crashed on Thursday.

Police have not released the man’s name until relatives overseas have been informed.

The Te Anau police were first notified that the man was missing about 8.30 a.m. on Saturday, and an air search was immediately organised.

A Tourist Air Travel Cessna, piloted by Mr W. Black, carrying Constable G. Roberts, of Te Anau, and a shooter, took off about 10.20 a.m. from Te Anau, and they found the crashed Auster about 12.30 pm. It was about 5500 ft up on the Humboldt mountains, in what Constable Gordon described today as “extremely rugged” country. The dead man had apparently been trying to fly through a saddle when the accident occurred.

Helicopter Used The party flew back to Te Anau, and a helicopterpiloted by Mr R. Finlayson, which has been working in the Manapouri area since December, was flown to the scene. Because of the rugged terrain, a landing spot for the helicopter was difficult, but it landed on a knoll near the

wrecked plane, Constable Roberts said. It took until 4.20 p.m. to extricate the pilot’s body from the plane. The Auster had not been on fire, but it was believed that the man had been killed almost Instantly. The body was flown to Te Anau, and was brought to Invercargill on Saturday night. From Alabaster The crashed plane had been taking deer carcases from Lake Alabaster, where the man had an air strip, to Glenorchy. As far as Constable Roberts knew, the man had been flying and shooting in the Fiordand area for the last three years. There was no radio in the plane, so his base camp was unable to communicate with

him but Constable Roberts said camps did not usually worry if a plane were one or two days late, because the weather could have closed in and the pilot be unable to take off.