As Andrew Preston headed to the site where an emergency locator beacon had activated near Poolburn yesterday, he was hoping it was a false alarm.
The Galloway Station owner, who is also a helicopter pilot, was already in the air when the call came from police, asking him to take a look.
''I've been called to a few of these things and thought it would probably be a false activation, but unfortunately not.
''It's a bastard of a thing, really. No-one likes seeing accidents like that,'' Mr Preston said.
''I feel for all the people involved.
''I'm sorry for the company, the emergency service people and everyone. No-one wants to attend something like that. It's just sheer bad luck.''
Sue Falconer, of Bonspiel Station, said the crash took place on her 4046ha property.
''I've been out all day, but everyone's been ringing me tonight to see how we are and it sounds like it's happened on our place, but it's all news to me,'' she said last night.
Several scenes from The Lord of the Rings were filmed at Bonspiel and it was a popular location for movie fans to visit or fly over, Mrs Falconer said. The private air strip near the crash site was Bonspiel's.
''Glenorchy Air will give us a call if they're going to land there, but they could've done that [yesterday], and I wasn't at home to get the call.
''We get lots of aircraft flying over here, too, and sometimes people take photos of the Lord of the Rings sites from the plane,'' she said.
Asked when the last fatal plane crash in Central Otago was, Central Otago Flying Club president Russell Anderson said he believed it was 12 years ago.
Martin Meehan (76), of Alexandra and Norman McPherson (72), of Clyde, were killed on June 30, 2002, when Mr Meehan's 1947 dual-control Auster aircraft crashed in the Lindis Valley after the pair tried to fly from Hokitika to Twizel.
Ida Valley Station owner John Paterson said in 50 years of owning the property, he could not recall another fatal plane crash in the valley.
His station borders Bonspiel Station.
''However, I can recall a close call on that very airstrip, when my brother owned Bonspiel.
"A top-dressing pilot loaded with super [superphosphate] had to jettison a load because of a rock near the end of the airstrip.
"We blew the rock up and got rid of it, but that was probably going back to the early 1970s.''
