TRIBUTES have been paid to a Hampshire couple were among seven people killed when a helicopter crashed into a glacier in New Zealand.

Nigel Charlton, 66, and his wife Helen, 70, also known as Cynthia, were aboard the sightseeing helicopter which crashed into a crevasse on the Fox Glacier, on the country's South Island, on Saturday morning.

Their family have led the tributes yesterday, saying they are "deeply saddened" and describing the couple as "were very adventurous when it came to travel and this holiday was to be their last big adventure together."
Friends of the couple, who were from Romsey, have described them as "wonderful people who loved each other very much".

They were with another British couple - Andrew Virco, 50, and his partner Katharine Walker, 51, both from Cambridge.

Sovannmony Leang, 27, and Josephine Gibson, 29, both from New South Wales, Australia, also perished along with helicopter pilot Mitchell Gameren, 28, from Queenstown, New Zealand.

In a statement, Nigel and Helen Charlton's family said: "Our family is deeply saddened by the tragic news. 
"Grandparents to three children, parents to my brother and I and loved by family and friends near and far.
"They were very adventurous when it came to travel and this holiday was to be their last big adventure together. 
"None of us were expecting their adventure to continue in the way that it will.  
"We are grateful that they remain travelling together but heartbroken that their new itinerary started the way that it did. 
"In light of all the recent atrocities that we hear of from across the world we are grateful that our grief is something that can be managed with reasoning and understanding. Our hearts go out to all those having to deal with different types of grief to ours.
"We are grateful to the Foreign Office and the British Consul in New Zealand who have kept us very well informed of the recovery efforts. 
"We would wish to send our gratitude to the brave teams making the recovery efforts and understand the need to consider their own safety above all else.
"We would also wish to send our condolences to the families of all those lost in this tragic accident.”
 

Daily Echo:

Mr and Mrs Charlton's neighbour, Margaret Astaur, 68, retired, said: "They were the most wonderful people and they loved each other very much.

"Nigel was the compere at the village fete and Helen would sell her crafts there.

"Helen loved the garden and Nigel was into model railways and had built a signal box in the garden which he was going to continue working on.

"We are just absolutely shocked, we could not believe it. I think it is going to take a long time to recover from."

Cathie Wood, 71, retired, said: "I am in disbelief, yesterday morning I seemed alright and then last night I couldn't stop crying.

"He (Mr Charlton) was very generous, very loving. She was a great needlewoman, she loved dressmaking, she loved knitting, she loved the garden and she loved the cottage. They loved singing and they loved travel.

"I don't know why the helicopter had to take off in such bad weather. It's just terrible what has happened, it's just unbelievable."

The couple had planned on travelling to Myanmar after New Zealand and were said to love travelling, wanting to make the most of their retirement.

Neighbour Sharon May, 54, a contract manager for the MOD, said: "They are part of the reason we moved here.

"We first looked at the house in March and as we were walking back to the car we saw them, they had just had a log delivery.

"They were so nice and friendly and we wanted to move somewhere with a village community spirit."

The bodies of three of the victims have now been recovered from the crash site and taken to a temporary mortuary facility nearby for formal identification, which New Zealand Police said may take a number of days.

The recovery operation has been halted for the day after weather conditions at Fox Glacier deteriorated.

A Tasman police spokeman said: ''The operation is extremely challenging and the safety of those working at the scene is of paramount importance.''

He added: ''Our thoughts are with the victims' families at this difficult time.''

A Foreign Office spokesman said: ''It is with regret we can confirm the deaths, in a helicopter crash in New Zealand on November 21, of Andrew Virco and his partner Katharine Walker, from Cambridge, and Nigel Charlton and his wife Cynthia from Hampshire.''

''We are providing consular assistance to their families at this difficult time.''

Daily Echo:

The helicopter crashed at around 11am local time yesterday (midnight GMT), with a picture released by police showing the crumpled remains stuck at the bottom of a wall of ice close to the top of the eight-mile (13km) glacier.

Reports in New Zealand said Mr Gameren was believed to be an experienced flier.

Fox Glacier Heliservices, which also trades as Alpine Adventures, organised the flight.

In a statement the firm said: ''Fox Heliservices' thoughts are with the families of the passengers and pilot.

''The pilot was a very valued member of our team.

''The New Zealand Police and Civil Aviation Authority have taken over the investigation.''

The Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand sent four rescue helicopters to the scene, on the west coast of the island - two from Christchurch, one from Greymouth and one based locally, the latter with a cliff rescue team on board.

Police said the crash site's location meant rescuers had initially not been able to reach it. It is understood a paramedic was later winched down but found no survivors.

Inspector John Canning, the police west coast area commander, told New Zealand's One News: ''It's at the top of the glacier and it is heavily crevassed, so very rough country and it is going to take a lot of care to get the people out of there.''

Alpine Adventures' website says it has been in business for around 30 years and runs ''an impressive fleet of modern turbine helicopters''.

Fox Glacier is the longest on the west coast of the South Island, travelling from the edge of the Mount Cook National Park in the Southern Alps towards the west coast on the Tasman Sea.

Grey district's mayor Tony Kokshoorn said weather was marginal at the time of the crash, with intermittent rain showers and low cloud. ''It was not ideal for helicopter flying,'' he said.

In September 2010 British web designer Bradley Coker, 24, died in a plane crash near the Fox Glacier, along with eight other people trying skydiving.

Mr Coker, from Farnborough, Hampshire, was on board a Walter Fletcher FU24 light aircraft operated by Skydive NZ. The aircraft took off and reached 400ft before the pilot appeared to lose control and the aircraft nosedived to the ground and burst into flames. All nine occupants were killed.

An accident report found the 30-year-old badly converted crop sprayer was overloaded and none of the passengers were wearing a seat belt, which was allowed under New Zealand regulations.