A chief flying instructor in the Canterbury town of Rangiora has been found alive and well.
Rangiora airfield Photo: Google Maps
The pilot had headed out to a hut in the Southern Alps in a single-engine light plane.
The Rescue Co-ordination Centre said the pilot did not make his intentions clear to his colleagues, who had thought he was going to land at Anna Hut.
The centre said he had been due to make contact at 1.30pm but failed to do so. A search was launched this afternoon.
A rescue helicopter found the instructor at Anderson Hut, ready to go hunting.
The instructor did not check in with his colleagues after landing and did not have his tracking device turned on.