Two killed in microlight crash on farm

A Balclutha pair are dead following a plane crash near Kaka Point yesterday morning.

A police spokesman said a man aged 30 and a woman aged 26 died when the microlight they were in crashed on a farm in Glenomaru, between Owaka and Kaka Point.

They are understood to be from the Balclutha area.

A joint investigation into the cause of the crash will be carried out by police and the Civil Aviation Authority ( CAA), which is sending three investigators to the scene.

A CAA spokesman said the pair were the only occupants of a Rans S6 microlight, which left in good conditions from Balclutha aerodrome where it was based.

There were no witnesses to the accident and the wreckage was found by the son of the farm owner.

The farmer then alerted the Rescue Co-ordination Centre.

Police were sending their special photographic unit to the scene and this evidence would be shared with CAA.

Otago Aero Club president Colin Chalmers confirmed the pair, who were a couple, bought the plane from Otago Aero Club. “It’s our old plane,” Chalmers said. He did not wish to comment further, because he did not have any details about how the plane crashed.

A St John Ambulance spokesman said two ambulances were sent to the scene. Helicopters were mobilised but stood down once paramedics arrived and assessed the situation.

Police were called to the scene about 10.15am. The Fire Service also responded to the crash.

Police said yesterday they were in the process of notifying the deceased’s next of kin.