Katharine Walker was killed in the Fox Glacier helicopter crash on Saturday. Photo / Supplied
Katharine Walker was killed in the Fox Glacier helicopter crash on Saturday. Photo / Supplied
Plans to recover the three bodies remaining on Fox Glacier after Saturday's helicopter crash have been revealed.
Police this afternoon confirmed four of the seven bodies have been recovered.
The remaining bodies are unlikely to be retrieved until at least Wednesday, when it was thought the weather could clear enoughfor rescue crews to approach the site.
Police said in a statement that weather had prevented any further work on Fox Glacier today. Photo / Supplied
Inspector John Canning said a staged area would be cut out in the ice, so the ground was stable enough to stand on.
He said the glacier was moving around 1m per day at the moment - and that alone presented considerable safety challenges.
Mr Canning said post-mortem examinations would take place in Christchurch tomorrow morning, while rescue crews in Fox Glacier planned their next move.
Sevonne Leang (right) with his brother Rolyn Peic. Photo / Facebook
Families of the victims were expected to arrive at the glacier at some point, but travel arrangements were still being finalised.
Queenstown pilot Mitch Gameren, 28, died alongside six tourists when the Alpine Adventures helicopter he was flying on a scenic trip plunged into a deep crevasse in the glacier.
The tourists were Andrew Virco, 50, and his partner Katharine Walker, 51, of Cambridge, England; Nigel Edwin Charlton, 66, and his wife Cynthia, 70; and Australians Sovannmony Leang, 27, and Josephine Gibson, 29.
Nigel Edwin Charlton, 66, and his wife Cynthia from Romsey in Hampshire, England. Photo / Facebook
Transport Accident Investigation Commission spokesman Peter Northcote said investigators had spent today conducting formal interviews with people connected to the tragedy, while waiting for the weather to clear to resume site operations.
"These include employees of the operating company and others working in the same area on the morning of the accident. Documentary evidence has also been gathered," Mr Northcote said.
Sevonne Leang. Photo / Facebook
"Meanwhile, an engineering expert for the helicopter type has been preparing equipment to assist with securing the wreckage while police operations take place nearby, and to prepare it for recovery.
"Planning of a drone aerial survey mission has also continued working off existing photography and an investigator's aerial reconnaissance of the wreckage scene.
Helicopter pilot Mitch Gameren. Photo / Supplied
"The investigation team's current priority is to secure all available physical evidence and to obtain witness statements.
"Once this has been achieved the team will be able to confirm any additional external expertise that might be required to help with examination of the wreckage and other technical aspects as the investigation continues."
