A pilot who grounded his helicopter Southern Alps last night, sparking rescue efforts, has been found "by luck" this morning. The search continued this morning, with helicopters back in the air and ground search and rescue teams scouring the area north of Arthur's Pass, by Deception River and Goat Pass. Around 8.30am, a passing helicopter not involved in the search spotted the grounded machine around Goat Pass and made contact with the pilot, Maritime NZ spokesman David Graham said. The pilot did the right thing by putting the machine down when flying into the low cloud, Graham said. It's yet not clear whether the pilot has flown his own machine out of the mountains this morning.

Source: Otago Daily Times June 12, 2021 22:07 UTC