The initials on the tail of a light plane pulled from the sea by a fishing trawler this morning match those belonging to missing pilot Daroish Kraidy.
The 53-year-old disappeared shortly after he took off from Auckland's Ardmore airfield in his homemade biplane in March.
Today a fishing trawler pulled up what's believed to be the wreckage near Great Barrier Island, and those on board reported a body was inside.
The initials of Mr Kraidy's plane, DJK, could be seen on the tail of the wreckage as it was pulled from the water.
"They're in the process of bringing it up, no positive identification at this stage, but it is pointing towards being my husband," Mr Kraidy's wife, Judy, told RadioLIVE.
"Daroish has been gone for four months now and… I always wonder every day where is he? Where did he go? So I can empathise with all the people who do have relatives or people who go missing. It's really, really difficult."
Search teams scoured parts of Coromandel Peninsula in the days following Mr Kraidy's disappearance, but neither he nor his plane could be found.
The wreckage discovered today was found some distance from where the search five months ago took place.
It's now believed the plane might have flown to the east of the Peninsula and if it crashed there, currents could have taken it up towards the south end of Great Barrier.
A police launch is on its way back to Auckland with the wreckage and is expected to arrive at the Marine Rescue Centre around 8:30pm.
Police say the plane is severely damaged, but some of its features are consistent with that of Mr Kraidy's aircraft.
A detailed inspection of the wreck will be carried out tomorrow by a police disaster victim identification expert and Civil Aviation Authority personnel.
Although such a small plane would not have had a black box, there may be enough clues from the wreckage to work out what really happened.
Although he is yet to be formally identified, Mr Kraidy's family say he will be cremated as he wished. His ashes will be scattered over his favourite dam in South Africa's Krugar National Park.
3 News
source: newshub archive
