Air crash victim was head of Swiss company

The Salt Air Cessna was winched ashore at Cable Bay. Picture / Frank Weber

UPDATE - The man killed when a light plane plunged into the sea in the Far North yesterday was the head of an international Swiss company.

Heinrich Bossard died when a Salt Air Cessna 172 hit the water about 100 metres off Cable Bay Beach near Kaitaia.

He was chief executive and majority shareholder of the Bossard Group, a Swiss-based international fastening product and engineering solutions company.

Mr Bossard's wife Silvia and the pilot, Simon van den Burg from Paihia, were flown to Whangarei Hospital in a rescue helicopter and were both listed as being in a stable condition today.

The aircraft crashed about 2.45pm in bad weather and local residents who saw it hit the water swam out to help the two survivors.

The aircraft, which broke up on impact, was battered by large waves as rescuers brought the two survivors to shore and a waiting rescue helicopter.

Volunteer firefighters managed to extract Mr Bossard's body from the wreckage and bring it to shore.

Radio sports host Murray Deaker saw the plane crash and said it made him proud to be a New Zealander as he watched residents and emergency workers leap into action.

"They pitched into what has been an absolute tragedy and they tried to turn it around," he said on Newstalk ZB today.

Rescuers battled weather described as "absolutely atrocious.

"Everyone who helped in that rescue did a marvellous job," Murray Pope, from Cable Bay said.

"It was really bucketing down. You couldn't see a thing" he said.

Mr Bossard's body lay under a white tarpaulin as it was blessed by local kaumatua.

The plane wreckage was winched onto the beach and later taken to a storage depot where it is expected to be studied by air accident inspectors.

Salt Air owner Grant Harnish said the company was still unsure about what had happened.

The two survivors were reported to be in a stable condition in hospital last night.

The name of the injured pilot would probably be released later today, Senior Sergeant Gordon Gunn of Kaitaia police said.

The dead tourist's body would be taken to Auckland for an autopsy.

An air crash investigator was due in the area today.

Mr Gunn said residents and volunteer firefighters undoubtedly saved lives by their quick action when they swam out to bring victims ashore.

Volunteer firefighters also hooked a rope around the plane wreckage so it could be brought ashore.

The Bossard Group employs about 1200 people and has a head office in Zug and marketing centres in Asia, Europe and the United States.

The company's website shows it had sales of 433 million swiss francs ($528 million), and made a net profit of 9 million Swiss francs in 2003.

The company was reported to have had the best four months in its history from the start of this year.

Peter Bossard, a family member and former Bossard Group board chairman, died in an armed attack on a government building in Zug in 2001 while performing his duties as Minister of the Canton of Zug.

Heinrich Bossard was a sixth generation member of a family that began the hardware business in 1831, and has consistently had family members involved in leading positions within the public service.

Mr Harnish said the pilot reported bad weather and was turning back when the Cessna 172 crashed.

It had taken off from Kerikeri at 1.40pm.

Salt Air, based in Paihia, offers airplane and helicopter scenic flights around the Bay of Islands as well as charter flights around New Zealand.

Its website said it had four aircraft, two Cessna 207s, the Cessna 172 which crashed, and a Bell 206 helicopter.

Salt Air opened in 1992 with a Grumman Super Widgeon seaplane it operated from the Paihia waterfront.

The company said that with the success of the initial operation at Paihia, its office was built near the seaplane ramp before it began operating out of Haruru Falls and Kerikeri. The Cessna 172 was too small and the company began operating seven-seat Cessna 207 aircraft in 1999.

The helicopter was added to the fleet in 2001.

- NZPA