KEY POINTS:
The wife of a pilot killed in a gliding accident on Monday is on a 60-day scientific voyage in the Ross Sea in Antarctica.
It is not known whether Niwa oceanographer Dr Julie Hall will be able to attend her husband's funeral.
Niwa spokeswoman Michelle Hollis said contact
had been made with Dr Hall.
"But there are things we are still working through at the moment to see if she is able to return to New Zealand ... basically we are exploring all the options."
She said Dr Hall was being supported by crew and scientists.
Her husband, Trevor Atkins, was an experienced pilot who had more than 1000 hours of flying time under his belt.
He was competing in the national gliding competition near Matamata on Monday evening when race authorities lost lost radio and visual contact with him.
Just after 6pm, a Waharoa farmer found 51-year-old Mr Atkins' body was found among the disintegrated remains of his aircraft.
Civil aviation authorities were yesterday investigating the cause of the crash.
Sergeant Graham McGurk of Matamata police said it appeared Mr Atkins died on impact.
"I'm no plane expert but it appears the glider landed first before crashing into a concrete fence post," said Mr McGurk.
The competition, which featured glider pilots from throughout New Zealand and from Australia, was grounded yesterday as Mr Atkins' fellow Piako Gliding clubmates and others in the gliding fraternity came to terms with his death.
All of those the Herald spoke to yesterday remembered their club treasurer as a "really good bloke".
"Trevor was not the sort of person who was interested in social status or anything like that," said club member Dennis Cook.
"He did things for the joy of it - he did our finances, organised promotional activities and things we could use in shopping malls and ran our website."
Mr Cook, who told the Herald he had lost three friends in flying accidents over the past 30 years, said the risks associated with flying were something Mr Atkins accepted.
Another of Mr Atkins' colleagues, Roy Edwards, said he was always trying to encourage other people to fly.
"He loved the sport and was a great promoter of gliding. It really is a sad loss for us all."
The Herald understands Mr Atkins was a Canadian scientist who ran a web-based business predicting weather patterns for horticultural enterprises.
It is not yet known where and when Mr Atkins' funeral will be held.
