Farmer Philip Rive and his wife, Kate, who manage Cecil Peak Station, were awarded a certificate of appreciation by officers at the Queenstown Police Station yesterday afternoon for their part in the rescue mission.
The NZONE jumpmaster was pulled from the lake by Mr and Mrs Rive shortly after the crash on January 10, but despite an extensive search, the body of American tennis coach Tyler Nii (27) was never found.
After receiving the award, Mrs Rive said the couple just did "what any other parent would do to help".
"We knew how important it was for their family.
"It’s a lovely honour to have received.
"Thanks to everyone else, as there were lots of others involved.
"I couldn’t believe how quickly everyone got there."
Pilot James Ford, of Wanaka, was flying near the lake about 1.40pm on the day of the crash when he heard a distress call over the radio.
He then contacted Mr Rive and flew him to the Cecil Peak boat on the waterfront. The couple rapidly drove the boat out to see if they could find the two skydivers and managed to rescue the instructor within 20 minutes of Mr Ford hearing about the crash.
Although the couple managed to pull some skydiving equipment out of the lake, they could not see any sign of Mr Nii.
An official search operation was launched and aided by the couple after they carried out an initial search of the area.
The Police National Dive Squad completed the final part of its sonar search on January 24 and the search operation was suspended the same day.
Divers searched the area within a 300m radius from where the couple rescued the instructor and operated at a maximum depth of 340m.
Parts of Lake Wakatipu are about 380m deep.
In a statement made at the time of the search being suspended, Mr Nii’s family said: "We want to thank Kate and Philip Rive, of Cecil Peak Station, who were extremely helpful in the initial search on the lake for Tyler, and for all the equipment and support they’ve given the ongoing search.
"Their efforts have been outstanding, as have those of the police."
- Joshua Walton
