Kelby Cheyne (25) walked away from the crash in Papua New Guinea on Tuesday with only severe bruising, after breaking the window of the cockpit to make his escape shortly before the aircraft burst into flames.
Selena Cheyne told the Otago Daily Times yesterday it was amazing her brother - a New Zealander now living in Australia - survived the crash of the Transair Cessna Citation.
"We are all relieved," Ms Cheyne said.
The bodies of the three Australians and one New Zealander killed in the crash were recovered yesterday from the remote crash site on Misima Island, Milne Bay, in PNG's southeast.
Ms Cheyne, who is based in Sydney, was preparing to fly to see her brother, who was discharged from Townsville Hospital yesterday, NZPA reported, and to join their father, Geoff Kelby, who is a former Dunedin dentist.
Mr Cheyne, the co-pilot of the aircraft, grew up in Dunedin, before moving to Twizel when he was 12 and to Brisbane two years later.
His father now runs a dental practice in Toowoomba.
The family, in a statement yesterday, thanked everyone for their support but requested privacy.
"We wish to say that our son and brother Kelby Cheyne is recovering well ...
"We would like to extend our sincere condolences to the families of those who lost loved ones in this accident."
The four people killed in the crash were Sydney-based marine pilot Richard "Chris" Hart (61), Transair part-owner Les Wright (59), of Queensland, flight instructor Darren Moore (44), from Western Australia, and a New Zealander, as yet unnamed.
The New Zealander killed worked for Medivac company International SOS.
The company confirmed he was one of its employees.
Investigators from Australia are working with Papua New Guinean authorities to determine why the aircraft overshot the Misima Island runaway in wet and windy conditions.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Papua New Guinea is investigating the incident and said it had recovered the flight box recorder from the aircraft.
