Missing New Zealand Helicopter Found After 8 Years; Crash Site Spotted by Passing Pilot, Bodies Still Aboard

The crash site of a helicopter missing for eight years has been found in New Zealand with two bodies aboard.

Hannah Timings, a British tourist, and boyfriend Campbell Montgomerie, a local pilot, set off in 2004 on a scenic helicopter flight from Queenstown to Milford Sound, with Montgomerie at the helm.

A storm hit and they radioed for directions before disappearing. An extensive two-week search was unable to locate either the helicopter or the couple.

Now police saw they have found the Hughes 500 helicopter, crashed in Fiordland, a remote part of New Zealand close to Montgomerie's final transmission.

Brendan Hiatt, a pilot with a local tour company, spotted the wreckage while giving a lift to American tourists.

"I spotted something glinting that just didn't look quite right amongst the snow, so I said 'we'll just take a look,'" he said.

"It's happened before, where you see a glinting rock or something that you go in closer for a look at. We got close and it was pretty evident what it was. "

Hiatt alerted police, who dispatched a rescue team, including a member versed in alpine cliff retrievals. They recovered two bodies, which they believe to be Timings and Montgomerie.

"The pair are yet to be formally identified and this will be done through DNA," said a police spokesperson.

At the time of the crash, Timings had just left her position at a British furniture company to spend six months traveling the world.

"It's like digging up the past nine years all over again," said Hannah's father, Philip Timings. "People say it will give me closure but I'm not sure, it's just bringing it all back."

"She rang me on Christmas Day and said her and Campbell were just off to the Fiordland and that she was very excited about it all. She told me how beautiful it was."

Timings' former employer Viscount Linley also released a statement.

"We were deeply saddened to hear this tragic news. We will always remember Hannah fondly - she was a lovely girl.

"We hope her family will find some respite in knowing what happened. Our thoughts and prayers are with them."