A parachute and camera footage are among items that will be examined during an investigation into a skydiving accident that left an employee of Queenstown tourism operation NZONE Skydive seriously injured on Sunday.
Civil Aviation Authority spokesman Mike Eng said in an emailed statement two of its investigators began the inquiry on Monday.
They would examine any equipment and company documentation, and interview company staff and other witnesses.
A 36-year-old Queenstown man was airlifted to Dunedin Hospital with head and chest injuries and broken arms after the incident near Jacks Point.
The company says their employee, a cameraman, was accompanying a group of tandem skydive customers on a jump when a gear malfunction caused him to ''impact the ground at speed''.
NZONE told the Otago Daily Times on Monday that he was ''stabilised'' after surgery on the night of the accident. Neither the company nor police could last night provide an update on his condition.
Mr Eng said it was unclear how long the the investigation would take, but was likely to be ''in the order of months, possibly longer''.
The CAA was responsible for conducting aviation accident investigations in accordance with the Health and Safety in Employment Act, he said.
