The glider pilot who died in a crash in north Otago was reasonably experienced and in a relatively new glider.
Gliding New Zealand executive committee member Nigel Davy says not much is known about the circumstances of the crash yet.
The pilot was reported missing on Saturday night, with the wreckage located last night in the Ben Ohau Range near Twizel. He was the only one on-board.
Mr Davy says the pilot had a reasonable amount of experience and the aircraft was relatively new.
Eight aircraft were called in to help search an area spanning from Mount Cook to Roxburgh.
Rescue Coordination Centre spokesman Vince Cholewa says it was a difficult search.
The glider self-launched around 1pm from Omarama, a small town in the Waitaki District in Otago. It was reported missing by Omarama Gliding at 8:20pm. The pilot had not left a flight plan or requested flight following.
There was a radio with him, but the last contact made was 2:06pm when he was flying at the north end of the Benmore Range.
An aerial search began Saturday night when it was still light, and from 6am Sunday aircraft were searching the area between Mt Cook and Roxburgh - approximately a 120km radius centred on Omarama.
It is believed the glider was flown towards the west, as an easterly wind was blowing.
The aircraft was not fitted with an emergency location transmitter that activates automatically. The manually operated personal locater beacon that was with the pilot was not activated.
The name of the pilot will not be released until his family overseas has all been notified. The Civil Aviation Authority is arriving tomorrow to begin its investigation.
Newshub.
