A piece of paper caught in a tree led searchers to the wreckage of a missing helicopter and the body of pilot Damian Webster in Kahurangi National Park.
Damian Webster was flying from Karamea on the West Coast to Nelson on a maintenance mission on Tuesday, along with another helicopter, when his aircraft, a Robinson 44, was lost over the Kahurangi Range.
The wreckage and Mr Webster's body was found about 3pm today, within the search area identified from its last known position.
A helicopter crew member identified what appeared to be a sheet of paper in the trees of the national park, Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) spokesman Steve Rendle said.
A crewman was winched down and was able to confirm the paper was linked to Mr Webster's missing helicopter.
The crewman was also able to locate a piece of the perspex from the helicopter.
"Such with the nature of the terrain it took another two or three hours to find the wreckage itself," Mr Rendle said.
Earlier this week the pilot's uncle Peter Webster said his nephew, a father-of-one in his 30s, had been living in Karamea and working as a builder.
He said Mr Webster's parents and other immediate family had been together in Nelson awaiting news.
He described his nephew as a "great, great guy".
"He'll do anything for anybody. He's a nice young guy."
A police spokeswoman said Mr Webster's body would be removed from the scene of the crash tomorrow.
"Police will maintain a scene guard overnight at the site of the crash, while the process of removing the pilot's body will begin tomorrow once the necessary scene examinations have been undertaken by Police and crash investigators.
"Our thoughts and sympathies are with the victim's family.
"We would also like to thank all of the dedicated volunteers and other agencies involved who helped in the search."
RCCNZ has managed the search over the past four days, which involved up to five helicopters and six ground search and rescue teams.
It had been a long and arduous search for the people involved, Mr Rendle said.
"You always hope to find the wreckage as soon as possible, in this case it was good work by one of the helicopter crews."
Rugged terrain and windy weather made the search difficult at times, he said.
"It's very difficult terrain, very steep and very heavily covered in bush so it means that you can't do a traditional grid search.
"It is a case of following contours of the land, and making progress as you can.
Windy weather on Wednesday also hampered the search as helicopters were unable to maintain a low speed flight, Mr Rendle said.
"That was the aim to make sure they had a good look at what was under the canopy."
Mr Rendle said it was not an outcome anyone would have wanted.
"I think everyone involved will be feeling for the family at this time."
- By Nikki Papatsoumas of APNZ
