Construction industry operator Steve Rout yesterday travelled from Christchurch to Dunedin Hospital to visit the two surviving passengers of the Arrowtown golf course crash, which killed construction operator Ian Douglas Sloan (59), of Tauranga, on Monday.
He felt "sad by what's happened" and relieved he was not on the flight.
Mr Rout said Mr Sloan had taken a week off work to show his son-in-law, Wayne Candy, a Perth mine supervisor, around the South Island.
Mr Sloan flew south with an insurance assessor to inspect roof damage to a property owned by Mr Rout in Invercargill.
The plan was Mr Rout would fly from Christchurch and meet Mr Sloan in Invercargill, then fly back in Mr Sloan's Cessna 172 Skyhawk to the private landing strip near the Arrowtown golf course.
But Mr Rout failed to catch a commercial flight from Christchurch to Invercargill on Monday. He was in a standby queue for an hour and at the last minute received a ticket and a seat. However, he was not allowed to board because it was too near flight time.
Mr Rout said Mr Sloan and Mr Candy were joined in the plane by Louise Urquhart, a friend of Mr Sloan's and an aviation enthusiast.
Detective Lisa Watt, of Queenstown, confirmed last night a 36-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman were taken to Lakes District Hospital in Frankton before being airlifted by the Otago Regional rescue helicopter to Dunedin Hospital.
They both had moderate injuries and remained in a stable condition in a general ward at Dunedin Hospital last night.
Mr Rout said Mr Sloan was "a really good guy".
The pair met when Mr Sloan came to Queenstown in the early 1970s. Mr Sloan flew when he was young and bought his Cessna about 18 months ago.
Mr Rout flew with Mr Sloan several times and said he was "a very safe pilot, alpine experienced ... He wasn't a risk taker".
Mr Sloan was "one of those ultra-reliable guys who always puts his hand up and steps forward when something needs to be done," Mr Rout said.
"We're pretty shattered, really gutted ... this has happened.
"He will be sadly missed, certainly amongst our crew and his friends," he said.
The cause of the crash was unknown yesterday.
Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) safety investigator Al Moselen, of Auckland, carried out a brief inspection of the wreckage at the scene yesterday.
Mr Moselen looked for a GPS device, but the navigational system was not there, CAA spokeswoman Emma Peel, of Nelson, said yesterday.
The investigation and subsequent report would take months to complete, she said.
Arrowtown Golf Club manager John Stephens said yesterday the first nine holes were closed as a sign of respect and would remain closed while the CAA investigated.
He understood the wreckage would be removed by tomorrow at the latest, with poor weather causing delays.
