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Zilos

Police have temporarily suspended air searches for cannabis plots following the death of a Queenstown policeman and a civilian pilot.

Detective Travis Hughes, 37, and Bay of Plenty pilot Chris Scott, 33, who both had young families, were killed when their single-engined Cessna 172 crashed in the Gibbston Valley east of Queenstown on Saturday afternoon.

The bodies were recovered on Saturday night. The Transport Accident Investigation Commission is investigating.

Mr Hughes' police colleagues and senior management, including Commissioner Rob Robinson, yesterday attended a service conducted by a police chaplain.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Jon White said aerial reconnaissance missions had been halted "while we take stock".

Mr Hughes and his wife, Fiona, have two daughters, one a pre-schooler and the other due to start school for the first time any day.

Superintendent George Fraser, the Southern District commander, said the two men were on a routine cannabis reconnaissance flight in the hills behind the Gibbston Valley.

The crash happened a short time after the plane had taken off from Queenstown Airport.

The Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Wellington received an emergency beacon alert at 12.13pm and a Queenstown helicopter left straight away, finding the wreckage on the side of a steep hill about an hour later.

Mr Hughes had strong family connections in Southland and transferred from Taranaki to Queenstown in 1996. He qualified as a detective last year and joined the criminal investigation branch.

Mr Fraser said Mr Hughes was a popular staff member who was "excelling in the investigative field".

He was a key member of the Queenstown Lakes Search and Rescue Unit and was involved in many outdoor activities.

Pilot Mr Scott founded the Whakatane company Scott Air five years ago and was contracted by police to conduct cannabis-spotting flights.

He was an experienced pilot who had flown for police in the Queenstown area.

His body is being flown home to Whakatane today in one of his aircraft with his wife, Eve, on board.

A company spokeswoman said Mr Scott was a trained electrician but flying was his passion.

Scott Air was initially formed as a flight training company but received Civil Aviation Authority approval and conducted scenic flights, charters and aerial surveys.

Mr White said Mr Scott was the prime contractor to police for aerial operations this year.

He declined to give details of Saturday's mission or whether any cannabis plots were found, but said it was in an area of interest to police.

Mr White said the police aerial programme, which has operated for 20 years, mainly followed up leads provided by members of the public.

Police would assess information with reconnaissance flights by fixed-wing aircraft and any further action, such as spraying or removing plants, would usually involve helicopters.

"We have through our experience in this programme understood that it is an exercise not without risk.

"People engaged in significant cannabis cultivation are typically involved in other forms of criminal activity, such as the use of firearms."

There was no suggestion the crash was anything other than a tragic accident.

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reggie_the_dog

Did you see the quote near the bottom of the article

"People engaged in significant cannabis cultivation are typically involved in other forms of criminal activity, such as the use of firearms."

See what happens when you never have a revolution against the English crown....
The simple use of a firearm is a crime in New Zealand. That pretty much rules out hunting, target practice and defending ones family and home against the attack of a real criminal.

If they make it illegal to use a firearm here in France I will leave the next day.
Back in my home country of the USA such a law making the use of firearms illegal may just lead to another revolution......

IF YOU MAKE GUNS ILLEGAL ONLY CRIMINALS WILL HAVE GUNS and law-abiding folks will have to choose, obey the law or have the ability to defend ones family.

IF YOU MAKE DRUGS ILLEGAL ONLY CRIMINALS WILL HAVE DRUGS and law-abiding citizens will have to choose between taking only the drugs that the state wants them to or feeding their head/healing their body as they see fit.

gords69

As a New Zealander I just wanted to point out that in fact it is not illegal here in New Zealand to use a firearm. You are allowed to own and use weapons so long as you have a current firearms license. Which I think is a very good system compared to that of the USA but thats another argument.....

Unregistered

i think smoking weed should be lagal

Unregistered

me too, however, recently i was diagnosed with acid reflux and now i cant smoke weed, very sad, among other things like cigarettes and i cant drink alcohol either. i miss the weed the most.

 

BC.Buddy

It took a death for these idiots to stop air recon for grow ops? That's pathetic. Maybe they should've stopped the first time they realized they can't stop marijuana growers. They've openly admitted they can't contain it, but yet they continue to spend millions of dollars per year, not to mention the fact that now there's more innocent people's blood spilled in the war on drugs. God damn pathetic. Didn't the US government, and therefore the ***** Canadian government, learn what happened with alcohol prohibition?

reggie_the_dog

for the guest who said
"You are allowed to own and use weapons so long as you have a current firearms license. Which I think is a very good system compared to that of the USA but thats another argument....."

It is the same in the USA you need a FOID, a firearm owners identity.
And we also have cops who exaggerate when they talk about crime too.