Two safe after watery crash

Two Whangarei men had to swim to safety after their helicopter plunged 250m into Whangarei Harbour off Onerahi during a training flight yesterday.
Pilot Dean Williams and student Josh Peacey were in the Robinson R22 when a belt broke and left the helicopter without power, forcing a watery crash landing.
The two were shaken but uninjured after surviving the plunge into the harbour near the Onerahi Sea Scout Den, Beach Rd, about 1.30pm.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing a thin trail of smoke behind the aircraft before it crashed "in slow motion".
The helicopter sank and became submerged, with high tide only half an hour before the crash.
The HeliNorth helicopter was later salvaged after the Whangarei Coastguard fixed a marker buoy to the wreckage.
Standing on Beach Rd yesterday, looking out to where the helicopter lay on the harbour bed, 19-year-old trainee Mr Peacey realised how close he had come to tragedy.
"For a few moments there I was thinking it could be all over," he said.
"We hit the water but it wasn't that hard and I already had the door open ready to get out.
"I was under the water and just swam out.
"When I surfaced Dean was up ... he was standing on top of the chopper. We checked we were both okay then swam in."
The duo had been practising auto rotation - an emergency drill used for landing when power fails - when they had to employ the technique.
"We were at 800ft when I heard a crack and realised we had no power. I saw Dean go into auto rotation and I thought we would be all right."
Mr Peacey, who has 40 hours flying experience, said he was glad he was not flying solo but the crash had not put him off.
"But I'm sure the next flight I go on I'll be a bit apprehensive."
The pilot declined to comment until he had spoken to his boss.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Bill Sommer said the accident was being investigated.
"It was a Robinson R22 helicopter being used for training.
"It appears they had problems with loss of engine power and undertook a forced landing into the water," Mr Sommer said.
He said the R22 was one of the safest helicopters in the world, but because there were so many of them in New Zealand, they featured regularly in air accidents.
"They are a very safe helicopter and people are generally using them well."
Mr Sommer said it was not known, at this stage, who was piloting the helicopter when it ditched in the sea.
A Northland Regional Council spokesman said there were no plans to clean up fuel from the helicopter, which sank a short distance from the Waikaraka section of the Whangarei Harbour Marine Reserve.
The relatively small quantity of fuel involved - thought to be less than 60 litres - and its volatility meant letting it evaporate naturally was safer than trying to clean it up.
Department of Conservation spokesman Reuben Williams said any fuel spill near a marine reserve was a concern. But it was too early to say whether it would have any effect on marine life.
Additional reporting by Mike Dinsdale and Peter de Graaf.