Two people have died in a helicopter crash near Wellington today, police say.
Emergency services were called to the scene, in the Paekākāriki Hill area, north of Wellington, by an automated crash alert at 7.30am.
Inspector Renée Perkins said both the pilot and sole passenger were found dead at the scene.
She said police were working to remove the bodies from the area and cordons were in place around the Battle Hill campground.
Police would work alongside the Civil Aviation Authority to examine the scene.
A person working nearby was first on the scene and told RNZ it was nearly impossible to land. The terrain is very steep, full of gorse and scrub.
The witness said he checked the vital signs of one of the people, who was in the wreckage, and they were dead.
The chopper was unrecognisable, he said.
A rescue helicopter arrived as he was making the check on the victim, the man said.
Shortly afterwards, he said another person was located some distance from the wreckage on steep terrain in thick scrub.
"It's not my first. I spent 27 years in search and rescue - so it's not something new to me," the man said.
He said he understood the helicopter was involved in goat culling in the area.
He attempted to shut the helicopter off as fuel was running out of the aircraft, but could not access the switch.
"Because there's fuel leaking out and the machine was still turned on, we took the safe option and we moved out of the way."
Conditions were sunny with light winds.
Fire and Emergency NZ sent two crews from Porirua, along with their "line rescue team". Also known as rope rescue personnel, they are trained in high-angle, vertical, or challenging terrain, often handling rescues at height or in confined spaces.
The newly appointed police Assistant Commissioner, Corrie Parnell, and staff from Greater Wellington Regional Council were also at the scene.
RNZ understands authorities were meeting this afternoon and were struggling to access the site.
Park rangers and teams on all-terrain vehicles have been trying to make the scene more accessible.
While helicopters were in the air this morning, an RNZ reporter at the scene said Flight Radar was no longer showing choppers in the area.
A police cordon has been set up at the turnoff to the Battle Hill Farm and campsite in Paekākāriki Hill Rd.
The search area is near Pukerua Bay where three people died in a crash involving an Air Force helicopter on Anzac Day in 2010.
