Beacon alerts rescuers to pilot's plight

A beacon signal quickly pinpointed the place where a microlite aircraft made a forced landing in the Ruahine Ranges today.

The Rescue Coordination Centre sent the backup Lowe Corporation rescue helicopter to carry out a search when a beacon signal was detected in the Ruahines.

A rescue helicopter spokesman said the beacon was a type registered to a microlite aircraft which had only been installed last Friday and the plane was quickly found due to the accurate position supplied by the beacon.

"It appeared the aircraft had suffered an engine failure on takeoff from a bush airstrip high up in the Ruahine Ranges and the pilot carried out a forced landing into tussock," the spokesman said.

"The pilot was unhurt and flown to Taihape where he had taken off from earlier in the day."

The spokesman said the value of the more accurate 406MHz beacons over the older 121.5MHz type was clearly demonstrated in the incident, with the accurate position information cutting down search area and time.

- NZPA