New Zealand: Deaths Bring Halt To Cannabis Spotting Flights

31 Jan 2005
(Sourceress)

Police have stopped cannabis reconnaissance flights after a plane crash killed a top Queenstown officer and his pilot, devastating the force and leaving six young children fatherless.

Detective Travis Hughes, 37, and civilian pilot Chris Scott, 33, of Bay of Plenty, were killed when their Cessna 172 crashed on a routine reconnaissance flight about 12.30pm on Saturday in the Gibbston area, near Queenstown.

Both men had young children - Hughes had two pre-schoolers and Scott had four children under the age of 11.

Accident investigators were at the scene of the crash yesterday trying to determine a cause, as police ordered a halt to reconnaissance flights for the time being. There is no indication of sabotage at this stage.

Police yesterday extended condolences to both families, who were described as being in shock.

"There have been six children rendered fatherless by this tragedy," said police acting deputy commissioner of operations Jon White, who travelled to Queenstown on Saturday.

Hughes' wife, Fiona, who has travelled to the site of the accident, would not be commenting to the media, a family member said.

The Scott family flew to Queenstown yesterday, as did Police Commissioner Rob Robinson, who met the families and attended a private service for the men at the Queenstown police station.

The aircraft was stabilised yesterday on a hillside in a remote, tussock-filled open valley, just south of Coal Pit Saddle, about 16km from Queenstown Airport. The men's bodies were retrieved from the scene on Saturday night and police are awaiting the results of post-mortem examinations.

It is understood the men were not in the air long before the crash happened.

Southern District Commander Superintendent George Fraser said that weather conditions were good and there was no indication of what caused the crash.

"Any aircraft crash of this nature is a tragedy. The involvement of individuals working as part of a police operation hits everyone involved in the organisation particularly hard," he said.

White said Scott's company was contracted by New Zealand police to supply flights for the cannabis reconnaissance programme nationally.

Scott had flown in the Queenstown area before. The work involved low-level flying, following up on leads from members of the public to help locate cannabis plots.

The programme had been put on hold because of Saturday's crash, White said.

"We don't think it's prudent to carry on at this stage. We have lost a colleague in Travis and a friend of the police in Chris Scott. We will be making a decision on further flights in the near future."

[size=-1]Pubdate: Mon, 31 Jan 2005
Source: Press, The (New Zealand)
Copyright: 2005 The Christchurch Press Company Ltd.
Contact: editorial@press.co.nz
Website: http://www.press.co.nz/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/349
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)[/SIZE]