The three other dive masters and pilot were also well-known seasonal locals and their deaths would be keenly felt, he said.
Mr Sullivan saw the accident from his house and was one of the first to try to help the victims.
The accident was the worst he could recall. He has been the fire chief since about 1994 and had helped retrieve the remains of an aircraft involved in a crash on Franz Josef Glacier in October 1993, when a twin-engine Nomad 22 crashed with the loss of nine lives.
In October 1994, seven people died when a Helicopter Line Squirrel crashed near Fox Glacier.
It had been heartbreaking for crew to work at a scene where friends were involved "but it's the old adrenaline thing. You go there and do the job".
Westland District Health Board rural nurses Jackie Cooper and John Dean, of Franz Josef, and Mary Crooks, of Fox Glacier, provided support to those affected by the accident.
