John Key spent half an hour in Wellington Hospital with the only survivor of the Anzac Day Iroquois crash on the eve of the funeral for his three colleagues.

The Air Force crewmen killed in an Anzac Day crash were farewelled at a full military funeral in Ohakea this afternoon.

The survivor of a crash that killed three colleagues is having difficulty comprehending his fate, his uncle said.

The father of one of three Air Force crewmen killed in the Anzac Day Iroquois crash said his son "died doing the thing he loved."

About 160 Defence Force personnel will miss the military funeral for their colleagues killed in the Anzac Day helicopter crash.

Australians have paid tribute to three RNZAF personnel who died in a helicopter crash on Anzac Day.

An Air Force crewman ran 2km through rugged uphill terrain to get to the helicopter wreck that contained the bodies of three colleagues.

The helicopter that crashed into a hill near Pukerua Bay was part of an ageing fleet that will be replaced by 2013.

Three young men who were dedicated to their country should have gone on to accomplish much more in the years to come.

Anzac Day commemorations have been hit by tragedy following this morning's fatal Air Force crash.

Today's helicopter crash happened almost 38 years to the day after the Air Force's only other fatal Iroquois chopper accident.

Three people are confirmed dead after an Air Force Iroquois helicopter crashed north of Wellington this morning, says the Defence Minister.

Protesters say President Lech Kaczynski and his wife should not be buried in Wawel Cathedral -normally reserved for poets and kings.

Russian authorities insist that pilot error was behind the plane crash that killed Polish President Lech Kaczynski.