OCEAN RECOVERY

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Dive ship recovered bodies of plane crash victims

Navy divers located a second body from a crashed plane around 3.30 p.m. in the afternoon of Apr 7. The body was recovered as the HMNZS "Manawanui" used its crane to retrieve a section of the crashed plane. The aircraft itself will be transported to Auckland by the Navy on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority where accident investigators will now take charge of the investigation. On Apr 6 the Navy divers recovered one body from the crashed plane at noon today, almost a week after the couple's twin-engine Beechcraft Baron ditched 20 km off the Raglan coast. The bodies have been taken to Auckland for a post mortem that was be carried out on Apr 8. Navy divers completed five dives on the site in a depth of 56 metres. One diver was injured while working on the wreckage. The diver was medically evacuated to Auckland as a precaution. The environmental conditions faced by the divers included various sized swells, strong bottom currents and significantly reduced visibility below the surface. The situation was complicated by the fact the plane is no longer in one piece. The HMNZS "Manawanui" had arrived at the site of the plane crash scene 20 km off the Raglan coast on Apr 4. Report with photo: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/8515213/Swells-stall-plane-wreck-recovery