A paramedic and members of an alpine cliff rescue team were winched down to the crash site in a heavily crevassed area halfway up the glacier early this afternoon, but found no survivors. There were six overseas passengers, two believed to be from Australia and four from the United Kingdom, and one pilot on board.
The helicopter is believed to be a six-passenger Eurocopter "Squirrel" operated by south Westland firm Alpine Adventures.
A man answering calls at the company, which is home of Fox Glacier and Franz Josef Heliservices, Tekapo Helicopters and Kaikoura Helicopters, said the downed helicopter was one of theirs but wouldn't comment further.
Police are now coordinating the recovery and scene examination, and say that will take some days. They are also working to locate the relatives of those on board.
Rescue Coordination Centre spokesman Vince Cholewa confirmed earlier they were alerted to the incident at 10.55am after the company told them an emergency location beacon had activated.
Four rescue helicopters - two from Christchurch, one from Greymouth and one from Fox Glacier - were sent to the small tourist settlement 150km south of Hokitika, Cholewa said.
The West Coast NZCC Rescue Helicopter and the Christchurch-based Canterbury Westpac Rescue Helicopter both arrived in the Fox Glacier region shortly before noon.
Police also responded but it was understood access to the crash scene was tricky in difficult conditions.
Weather analysts said it was a wet day around Fox Glacier and conditions could affect visibility.
Grey District Mayor Tony Kokshoorn said weather conditions in the area were "terrible".
It had rained solidly overnight, and for much of this morning, and low cloud made for "poor visibility".
"It wouldn't be a good day to be flying helicopters," Kokshoorn said.
"Everything is against a rescue [mission]. It will be cold up there. And the problem is amplified by the cloud cover".
He was shocked to hear of the downed chopper.
The area where the crash happened was "unforgiving". He understood the helicopter went down in a heavily crevassed area and said flying in that area was "very, very tricky".
Conditions were starting to clear just before 4pm, he said.
The investigation into the crash is being lead by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.
Its spokesman, Richard Northcote said two or three investigators would be at the crash site from this evening, with a fourth person to join them tomorrow.
Alpine Adventures operates Hughes 500C and Hughes 500D four-passenger helicopters as well as Eurocopter "Squirrel" six-passenger helicopters, according to its website.
It has been operating flights for 20 years is believed to operate 11 modern turbine helicopters.
"Alpine Adventures is proud to have a team of extremely experienced professional pilots and ground crew dedicated to aircraft safety and customer service," its website said.
They employ nine pilots and up to 17 ground crew, office staff and management, with each pilot specifically chosen and trained by the company's managing director, James Scott, who has over 30 years of experience operating helicopters.
"Each ground crew member is also fully trained to a high standard of customer service, including an in-depth knowledge of all operational safety procedures.
"We have Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand approval to trade as Alpine Adventures, Fox Glacier Heliservices, Franz Josef Heliservices, Tekapo Helicopters and Kaikoura Helicopters under the provisions of Civil Aviation Rule Part 119 to perform air operations, etc."
In June, a Hughes 369 helicopter owned by the firm rolled over when taking off in West Coast mountain country.
Owner James Scott said at the time he didn't yet know what caused the crash.
The helicopter left from Franz Josef Glacier with two hunters on board. It crashed near the Poerua Glacier, in the Westland National Park, trapping the 24-year-old pilot in the cockpit.
All three on board were taken to hospital.
Mr Scott said at the time the pilot would need surgery, while the passengers were relatively unscathed.
A witness to the aftermath said the helicopter crashed on a bank of tussock and looked like it had "fallen off a hill".
The Civil Aviation Authority was investigating the June crash.
Several helicopter companies run tourist charters to Fox Glacier.
The region is a popular destination, with tens of thousands of tourists converging there every year to visit one of New Zealand's natural wonders.
Five years ago nine people died when a plane full of skydivers crashed not long after take-off at Fox Glacier.
A review into the investigation released last month by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission found the cause of the disaster may never be known.
The original investigators found the crash was probably caused because the plane was out of balance and became airborne too soon, but the subsequent review has cast doubt on that.
The plane crashed during take-off on September 4, 2010, the same day as the first Christchurch earthquake.
Four tourists, four Skydive NZ dive masters and the pilot died.
In 2008, three people survived a plane crash at Fox Glacier.
A Cessna went down trying to land at the airstrip leaving the pilot trapped briefly. Two passengers managed to get out of the wreckage.
All three were taken to hospital.
