Helicopter Found 8 Years Later, Victims Believed Aboard (VIDEO)
The wreckage of a helicopter crash from eight years ago has been found, reports state. The helicopter went down in New Zealand carrying a local pilot and British tourist.
Police confirmed that the helicopter was the same that went down in Fiordland with Campbell Montgomerie, a 27-year-old pilot, and Hannah Timings, 28. The find comes as a shock, given that authorities were unable to locate any signs of the wreck at the time of the crash.
Two bodies were also found aboard the plane, but police have not yet confirmed that they are the bodies of Montgomerie and Timings. More DNA testing is required for proper verification. Their families have been notified of the findings.
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Helicopters have been in the news in the country numerous times over the past year. Just last year a pilot in New Zealand cheated death when he was attempting to help put up a seven-story Christmas tree. The blades of Greg Gribble's helicopter became tangled in cables and snapped the helicopter back and forth. Fortunately Gribble was able to survive falling out the front door.
The helicopter then fell the rest of the 25 feet and smashed into the ground. The whole incident was captured on life TV, leaving viewers horrified and astonished that Gribble survived. He had over 20 years of experience piloting helicopters but was not used to being in such tight-knit quarters.
The crash led to an investigation of air-safety regulators, who wondered why a helicopter would be allowed in such a restricted area, given the amount of space needed for a chopper's blades.
Gribble's family was extremely grateful that he survived the accident. "Someone must have been looking out for him. That's all we could have prayed for – that he's safe and happy. Someone must have been on his side," his son Jaz told stuff.co.nz.
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) used the TV footage for its investigation and said the live footage was "one of those rare but very useful things that does happen from time to time."
Watch footage of the crash HERE:
