LEAD STORY: Air Force pilot was from Bay

Taradale's Hayden Madsen, one of the three RNZAF flyers killed in yesterday's helicopter crash near Wellington, always wanted to fly.
"It is so beautiful in the air," he said back in 2004 while training to fulfil his boyhood dreams and ambitions to become a pilot.
Tragically, his career was cut short on the day New Zealanders were honouring the people who gave their lives in service of their country.
Flight Lieutenant Hayden (Muddy) Peter Madsen was 33.
Two of his Air Force colleagues and mates died in the early-morning crash alongside him.
They were Flying Officer Daniel Stephen Gregory, 28, of Auckland, and Corporal Benjamin Andrew Carson, 25, of Canterbury.
The RNZAF Ohakea-based Iroquois was one of three heading to Wellington as part of an Anzac Day fly-over. It crashed in misty conditions near Pukerua Bay, just north of the city, about 6am. It was to have been Mr Madsen's first Anzac Day fly-by and he had told friends he was proud
to be part of such an occasion.
The loss of three experienced and devoted servicemen, on the national day of remembrance, shocked and stunned people at services across the country as news of the crash spread.
His parents, Peter and Julie, still live in Taradale. Their daughter said yesterday the feeling was one of shock.
One relative said today she did not want to talk about what had happened.
It is understood the family has travelled to Ohakea to be with their son's widow, Kim.
The couple, who lived on the base, had celebrated their first wedding anniversary last month.
Mr Madsen, who attended Taradale High School, enlisted straight after leaving in 1996.
He initially trained to become an aircraft mechanic but those ambitions were sidelined when the Air Force scrapped its 75 Squadron Skyhawks, which he had been working on.
He left in 2001 to pursue commercial aviation at Massey University where he gained his helicopter licence.
His mother, Julie, once told of his particular method of popping back home for a meal.
"When he was at Massey, he came home in a helicopter and landed it in a back paddock. He had lunch and then flew it back," she said.
But he always wanted to fly for his country and in 2003 he rejoined the Air Force as a pilot trainee. He pushed himself through the rigorous Air Force training programmes to receive his "wings" from then Prime Minister Helen Clark in 2005.
"I have always had an interest in flying and then I got keen on the military," he said at the time.
After graduating, he said he was not sure where he would be doing his flying but had his fingers crossed it would be at the controls of a helicopter.
His mother said she was "most definitely proud" of the achievements of her son.
As well as his pursuit of flying Mr Madsen was also a keen sportsman who played cricket for the Palmerston North Freyberg Cricket Club.
A club spokesman said his teammates were devastated at the loss and some were having difficulty dealing with it.
During his career, Mr Madsen saw service on an operational deployment to East Timor in 2008 and was awarded the New Zealand General Service Medal (Timor-Leste) and the New Zealand Operational Service Medal.
A visibly upset Air Vice-Marshal Graham Lintott said yesterday the entire defence force had been stunned by what had happened. A court of inquiry will be launched to investigate the cause of the crash.