1.15am
Police and navy divers have retrieved the body of one of the two pilots who died when a freight plane crashed off Kapiti Island a week ago.
The cockpit of the Convair plane was located on the sea floor at about 6.45pm Saturday, with the body inside.
Police have advised
the families of pilot Barry Cowley and co-pilot Paul Miller.
Senior Constable Keith Allen said police had not yet been able to identify the body, which was being sent to Wellington for a post-mortem investigation.
"The divers could not determine whether there was another body inside the cockpit," he told NZPA.
Mr Allen said the search would resume today.
The Air Freight New Zealand Convair 580 was flying to Palmerston North from Christchurch when it disappeared from radar between Peka Peka and Kapiti Island during stormy weather.
Divers on Friday recovered the two flight recorders that could explain the cause of the crash.
The flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorders, which were found in an 8-10m long tail section of the plane, are to be sent to North America for specialist analysis.
Major pieces of wreckage were located with the help of sonar equipment aboard the navy reserve patrol boat Wakakura.
On Thursday night it found nine "areas of debris" spread over a two kilometre area on the seabed, in 30 to 35 metres of water.
The search has been complicated by poor visibility -- due to last week's storms -- and strong tidal flows.
Kapiti police spokesman Sergeant Steve Kendrick said search conditions improved slightly yesterday and those involved in the recovery operation were heartened by the latest development.
"It's been an extremely difficult search in very testing conditions.
He said it had been a harrowing time for the families and friends of both men, and he was hopeful of finding the second body today.
- NZPA
