Crowd lines lake shore as plane pulled from water

Dozens of holidaymakers looked on as the mangled wreckage of a skydiving plane was hauled from the depths of Lake Taupo.

The tail section of the Skydive Taupo aircraft, which crashed into Lake Taupo on Wednesday, was lifted out of the water by a helicopter yesterday morning.

RECOVERY: A dive team recover the engine of the Skydive Taupo plane. PHOTOS/SUPPLIED

All six skydivers, their six instructors and the pilot were able to parachute to safety after a suspected engine failure forced them to abandon the plane at 2000ft before it plummeted into the lake near Rotongaio Bay shortly after midday on Wednesday.

Following the crash a police dive squad worked with the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) to survey, video and photograph the wreckage of the aircraft before the recovery effort began.

Yesterday, about 50 holidaymakers along with dozens of locals gathered on the shore at Waitahanui to watch as the plane was winched from the water.

The tail section of the aircraft was the first piece to be recovered and gushed with water as it was lifted.

It was followed by the main fuselage section and a large wing section of the aircraft, which smelled strongly of aviation fuel, as the salvage helicopter lowered them to be loaded on to awaiting trucks on the shore.

A spokesman for the Lake Taupo Harbourmaster's office, Jono Unuwai, said the aircraft's engine had been lifted out of the water by the harbourmaster's barge.

A dive crew had spent the morning in the water securing the three pieces of the aircraft, he said.

PHOTO/SUPPLIED

TAIC spokesman Peter Northcote said it was hoped the aircraft's engine data recorder could be successfully retrieved so it could then be taken to Australia, where its contents would be downloaded by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

The engine is likely to be air-freighted under seal to its Canadian maker for examination, supervised by the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.