Three-day search launched for 1978 missing scenic flight over Milford Sound
New Zealand police, the defence force and Coastguard West Coast will conduct a three-day search at Lake Moeraki for the charter plane that vanished in 1978 with seven people aboard.
A coordinated operation involving NZ Police, the New Zealand Defence Force and Coastguard West Coast will commence on Monday, lasting three days, to search for the missing charter plane ZK-EBU at the boat ramp on the northern shore of Lake Moeraki. The aircraft disappeared in 1978 during a scenic tour that had departed Dunedin and flown through Queenstown, Milford Sound and Preservation Inlet, with the last radio contact made over Milford Sound.
Acting West Coast area commander Mark Kirkwood emphasized the need to keep the ramp area clear to ensure safe movement of personnel and equipment. In 2015 a Givealittle page was created to fund a radar-technology search overseas, but it collected only $5,701 of the $35,000 goal. The new search will proceed without the promised foreign radar system, relying on conventional methods.
Why it matters
The effort revives a decades-old mystery and may finally bring closure to families of the seven missing passengers.
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