Searchers have found the wreckage of the glider that went missing after taking off from Omarama at 1pm on Saturday.

Maritime New Zealand say the pilot was the only person in the glider and did not survive the crash. Police will release his name after advising next of kin.

The glider was found by one of eight searching aircraft in the Ben Ohau Range, North West of Twizel, about 7pm on Sunday.

The cause of the crash is unknown and the accident has been referred to the Civil Aviation Authority.

At 8.20pm on Saturday, Omarama Gliding advised the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand the glider was missing and RCCNZ began coordinating the search, using an aircraft to take advantage of what light was still available.

The glider had been self-launched using a small motor. On Saturday, the pilot made radio contact at 2.06pm and the glider was last sighted at 3.45pm flying north of Omarama.

On Sunday morning, RCCNZ dispatched six aircraft to search the area between Mt Cook and Roxburgh, an estimated 120km radius circle centred on Omarama. On Sunday afternoon, two helicopters joined the search in addition to the fixed wing aircraft. Gliding New Zealand provided observers for the search aircraft and an advisor at the RCCNZ.

Two helicopters were also on stand-by; one with an ICU paramedic and the other with an alpine cliff rescue team. The search was difficult because the glider pilot had not left a flight plan nor asked for flight following.

Maritime NZ say the man was carrying a personal locator beacon, which is manually operated and was not activated. The glider was not fitted with an emergency location transmitter that would activate automatically.

Earlier report:

The search continues for the glider missing after taking off from Omarama on Saturday at 1pm.

Maritime New Zealand say there has been no sightings of the glider since 3.45pm on Saturday.

The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand is coordinating the search by eight aircraft in a 120km circle around Omarama.

Searching will continue until nightfall and, if nothing is found, will resume at first light on Monday. Maritime New Zealand will provide further information as it becomes available.

Source: Maritime New Zealand.