Victim knew pilot since his first skydive

The pilot who flew Inglewood man Michael Suter on his first skydive in 2005 also flew him on his last when their plane crashed in Fox Glacier killing all aboard on Saturday.

Nine people – four of them tourists – were killed when a Skydive New Zealand plane piloted by Chaminda Senadhira, 33, crashed into a field and exploded just seconds after takeoff.

Skydive Taranaki instructor Doug Telfer yesterday said Mr Senadhira had also piloted the plane on Mr Suter's first jump in New Plymouth in 2005.

"He was hooked ever since and he did all his training with me before leaving for Mercer to train as an instructor in September that year," Mr Telfer said.

The death of Mr Suter, 32, has rocked the Fox Glacier community where he had worked as an instructor since 2007 and left his friends and family in Taranaki numb with grief.

When New Plymouth man Nathan Wilkins heard a skydiving plane had crashed in Fox Glacier he knew his friend since primary school was gone.

"Once I heard there had been a crash in Fox Glacier I started ringing his phone but it was turned off and just went straight to voice mail. I was going `come on bro, pick up, pick up'.

"We thought that it's got to be him but we sort of joked around that Suter would have got around it somehow, that's just what he was like. But we were just blocking out that it had to be him. He was gone," Mr Wilkins said yesterday.

That his friend was doing something he was passionate about has helped him deal with the grief of losing his mate but Mr Wilkins admits the fact he will never see Mr Suter again has not sunk in.

With Mr Suter and Mr Senadhira, the divemasters killed in the accident were reported to have had 35,000 jumps between then and a perfect safety record. They were dive masters Adam Bennett, 47, from Australia but living in Moteuka, Christopher McDonald, 62, from Mapua, and Rodney Miller, 55 from Greymouth.

The four tourists who died were Patrick Byrne, 26, from County Wexford, Ireland; Glen Bourke, 18, from Coburg, Victoria, Australia; Annita Kirsten, 23, from Germany; and Brad Coker, 24, from Farnborough, England.

Transport accident investi-gators are confident they will find "most, if not all", of the reasons for New Zealand's worst air accident in 17 years, despite fire causing massive damage to the aircraft.

A team of six investigators from the Transport Accident Investigation Commission, with the regional coroner Richard McElrea, was trying travelling to the crash scene yesterday to begin inquiries. Despite that it could be more than a year before an investigation is complete.

The bodies of the victims will be taken to Auckland mortuary, not the Christchurch one because of the state of emergency following Saturday's massive earthquake.

Former Inglewood deputy principal Ann Marshall said she remembered Mr Suter as a student liked by teachers and students alike.

"He was a hell of a nice guy at school and a really good sportsman and the kids thought the world of him," she said.

Mr Suter's family yesterday said they preferred not to comment to the media at this stage.

- © Fairfax NZ News