Lake Sumner News

The search for the body of missing helicopter pilot Michael Mehrtens has been suspended after an extensive operation in a remote North Canterbury lake failed to find him.

The Hughes 500 helicopter was believed to have crashed on the northern side of Lake Sumner.

Pilot Michael Mehrtens, 35, of Rangiora, had been contracted by the Department of Conservation to spray gorse when the helicopter he was piloting crashed in the lake near Breaksea Bay about 2.50pm on Monday.

Police have requested assistance from the Navy in the operation to locate and recover the helicopter believed to have crashed in Lake Sumner, with one person on board.

Christchurch Police are issuing the following statement on behalf of Way To Go Heliservices Limited, the employer of Michael Graeme Mehrtens, the pilot missing following a helicopter crash at Lake Sumner yesterday.

Search teams looking for a pilot missing after a helicopter went down in an isolated north Canterbury lake have spotted a possible crash site.

TVNZ says it considered rescheduling an episode of Shortland Street featuring a helicopter crash following a crash in north Canterbury yesterday - but it would have ruined other planned events for the show's 20th anniversary.

The search for a pilot missing after a helicopter was believed to have crashed into Lake Sumner in north Canterbury will resume this morning.

The Westpac rescue helicopter has been searching the remote area for signs of the helicopter, which was believed to have crashed into the lake this afternoon.

A helicopter being used to spray weeds for the Department of Conservation has crashed in the Lake Sumner area in North Canterbury.