A Royal New Zealand Navy and New Zealand Police search for missing Haast helicopter pilot Morgan Saxton and his Robinson 22 helicopter may take several days to achieve a result.
The joint navy and police dive teams in Wanaka this week are using sonar scans and underwater cameras to conduct their lake search.
Haast is numbed by the news one of their favourite sons may no longer grace residents' lives and lounges with his cheeky smile and cheerful personality.
Navy and police divers were on Lake Wanaka at 4am today to begin searching for missing helicopter pilot Morgan Saxton and his Robinson 22 helicopter, believed to be about 70m-100m under water in Lake Wanaka since an accident on Saturday night.
While searchers continued to look for missing pilot Morgan Saxton yesterday, Civil Aviation Authority investigators began the painstaking task of trying to determine why Mr Saxton's Robinson 22 helicopter crashed into Lake Wanaka on Saturday evening.
The search for missing Haast helicopter pilot Morgan Saxton has been suspended while search crews await the arrival of specialist diving teams this evening.
The Wanaka flying community is in shock at the disappearance of high-profile Haast helicopter pilot Morgan Saxton, describing it as a "huge blow'.
Haast Search and Rescue co-ordinator and fisherman Kerry Eggeling said last night the community was numbed and shocked over the Morgan Saxton accident, and it seemed the whole town had closed down.
Runner Allison Roe helped inject a healthy dose of enthusiasm and cash into the Upper Clutha Lions' bid to buy the district's first fetal heart monitor on Thursday.
Wanaka reporter Marjorie Cook talks to the Cotter family about the camp on the shores of Lake Hawea that Dick and Margie built and are now ready to pass on to new custodians.
Wanaka triathlete John Mezger did his best to overcome adversity at the XTerra world championship offroad triathlon in Hawaii on Monday, after battling his broken bike for more than 25km.
John Weatherall has been bringing power to the people of Otago for 50 years through rain, snow and gale.
Margie Cotter was the heart of the Lake Hawea Camping Ground, and a champion of 5am starts.
Wanaka's Land Search and Rescue chairman John Taylor is reminding climbers and trampers to be clear about their "panic date" in intentions forms kept at the Department of Conservation office.
A large Speight's tent used at the Perfect Woman competition in Wanaka over the weekend was stolen from a Ford Courier utility vehicle parked outside the Bullock Bar early yesterday, marring what police said was otherwise a well-behaved, two-day event.
Gore shepherd Jaimee McMeeken (23) stopped trying to be the perfect woman yesterday, seconds after she was announced the 2008 Perfect Woman in Wanaka's annual charity fundraiser competition for the Canlive trust.
Albert Town's first early childhood education centre could be open by January 2011, if Oanaka Educare Ltd obtains resource consent for a site in the Riverside Park subdivision.
Wanaka house-hunters and real estate agents can expect to be busy this weekend, with at least 180 open homes scheduled over the holiday weekend.
Hundreds of happy classic car crews meandered through Central Otago yesterday on the second last day of the 2008 Penrite Mainland Classic Tour.
When runner Allison Roe gave birth to her first child by emergency Caesarean section nearly 19 years ago, a fetal heart monitor was used to monitor the health of her daughter.
