Plane ditches into sea during search

Press, 28 December 1988, Page 6

Plane ditches into sea during search

Auckland correspondent Dozens of Coromandel holidaymakers watched in horror yesterday as a light plane ditched in the sea of Hot Water Beach during a search for a missing swimmer.

Its three occupants — a pilot and two policemen—escaped and swam unaided to shore. They were not badly injured. But the plane, which according to witnesses came down after its engine cut out, sank in the heavy seas within seconds of hitting the water. The Cessna 172 aircraft from Air Coromandel went to search for a German tourist, aged 23, who disappeared off the popular holiday beach late yesterday afternoon. Flown by Mr Mike Bamford, of Whitianga, the single-engined plane had made low sweeps over the beach before it got into difficulty about 7.30 p.m. On board with Mr Bamford were Sergeant John Goodman and Constable Murray Yates. The policemen had been stationed at Whitianga to cope with big holiday crowds.

According to Mr Chris Adams, of Auckland, who watched the accident from the beach, the plane banked, coughed, spluttered and then fell in the sea. Swells at the time were up to 3m. Mr Adams, a surf lifesaver, said he swam out to the men but the tide carried them towards shore.

Mr Geoff Wolfe, who runs the Hot Water Beach Motor Camp, said: “It was flying quite low searching for the swimmer when the engine seemed to stall or misfire. “Then the plane just fell straight down into the water.”

“The three men inside managed to get out before it sank to the bottom and they started swimming for shore.

“They were helped by the tide coming in and got half-way when people from the camp swam out to help them the rest of

the way.” Mr Eric Leddley, who lives at the beach, said the three men “looked fairly grey” when they reached the shore.

Another resident, Mrs Jenny Jenkin, feared rescuers who dashed to help the men could be lost in the boiling surf. “They seemed to take ages to get to shore. We thought the rescuers might be lost too,” she said.

Constable Don Bates of Whitianga said last night that the pilot and one policeman had head cuts from the accident. The policemen went to Thames for medical checks and the pilot had been taken to Whitianga. Mr Bates said after the plane went down a helicopter was called in with a sea-rescue net but had not been needed. Shoreline searches for the missing swimmer will resume at dawn today.