The body of Phillip Gordon Pullar (62), of Pukerau, near Gore, was recovered from the wreckage of the Cessna 172 he was piloting from the remote crash site on the Old Man Range and flown to Alexandra about noon yesterday, after the aircraft was located by a search and rescue team about 3.40am.
The discovery of the wreckage came after a search and rescue operation was launched by the National Rescue Co-ordination Centre when it received an emergency beacon alert from a private light aircraft about 5.30pm on Wednesday.
The source of the beacon was the Cessna, with just Mr Pullar on board, which had been travelling between Bannockburn and Gore.
Retrieval of his body was hampered by fog and low cloud that prevented a helicopter, which was carrying specialist equipment to retrieve Mr Pullar’s body, from flying into the site.
Detective Sergeant Derek Shaw, who acted as forward incident controller in the operation, said he and another search and rescue team member remained with the wreckage from its discovery until fog conditions lifted and allowed helicopter access about 10am.
"We found him [the pilot] about 3.40am and waited with him because we couldn’t get a helicopter in.
"We had to wait for clearance."
The operation to locate the wreckage spanned 10 hours and, due to weather conditions on the range, access to the approximate location of the beacon was via four-wheel-drive vehicles.
The search itself involved 10 searchers, covering a 10km radius on foot, using thermal imaging equipment and homing devices, Det Sgt Shaw said.
Because of the conditions and for safety reasons, the team had almost abandoned search efforts when a volunteer discovered the wreckage near one of the vehicles, which was "fortuitous", he said.
He would not be drawn on the scale of the crash scene or condition of the wreckage.
"I would describe the crash as unsurvivable."
An Aspiring Helicopters crew from Wanaka had identified the area by the distress beacon signal yesterday but could not get close to the site due to the conditions.
The helicopter was redeployed when conditions improved and it flew back to Pioneer Park in Alexandra shortly after noon.
Earlier a shift change in search and rescue personnel happened between 7.30am and 8am. Some were flown back by the helicopter, which landed in the park at 8.30am.
Two Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) safety investigators from Wellington arrived yesterday afternoon.
Investigations at the scene are expected to continue for several days.
Mr Pullar was well-known in Southland and had a presence in Bannockburn as a director of Hawksburn Vintage Wines.
He converted his father Gordon Pullar’s sheep and cropping farm to dairying in 1997 and ran it with his daughter and son-in-law.
