Aircraft Was Reportedly Carrying Mail

REAL TIME UPDATE 1707 EDT -- A Fairchild Metroliner carrying mail from Auckland, New Zealand to Blenheim apparently exploded in flight Tuesday night, killing both pilots on board. Search crews swarmed toward the crash site at approximately 2015 local time after scores of callers flooded emergency dispatchers with reports of loud explosions and brilliant balls of fire.

Police in the town of Stratford said they'd received more than 20 calls from people reporting "a ball of fire in the sky" and "a ball of fire on the ground."

One woman told New Zealand Radio she heard "screaming up the road" from people saying there had been "an almighty explosion." She went outside and saw "a great big ball of fire in the sky above the house, sort of. You could see pieces falling. Something's exploded in the sky."

"So at some stage," Police Inspector Tom Ireland told New Zealand Radio, "there has been a fire, whether it's been in the air, and a break-up has occurred in the air, or on the ground, that's for the air crash investigators to determine."

Recovery teams reached the crash site at about 0030 and almost immediately found the debris field. They were able to locate the nose of the aircraft, including the cockpit, where they found the bodies of the two crew members.

"In this case the plane's come down from over 20,000 feet," Ireland said, "so the impact's been quite substantial and there will of course be debris spread over quite a wide... field."

Although the weather at the time of the mishap and during the search was rainy and windy, Ireland said search crews had little trouble reaching the site. "It was just a matter of locating exactly where the aircraft had come to rest, in the major pieces. Being in rural farmland, of course, we were very, very lucky that there were no injuries on the ground."

The aircraft, reportedly operated by Airwork, was carrying express mail for New Zealand Post and DHL, according to radio reports.

REAL TIME UPDATE 0900 EDT -- A cargo aircraft, type unknown, has apparently exploded over New Zealand. Radio New Zealand reports there were two crew members on board.

The aircraft disappeared from radar about 210 miles northwest of Wellington, according to radio reports. At about the same time, emergency dispatchers were overwhelmed by reports of a brilliant fireball in the sky near the town of Stratford.

Police in the Stratford area are appealing for residents to remain calm and to stay indoors so roads can be used for emergency traffic.

The aircraft was reportedly carrying mail for the New Zealand postal service, on a run between Auckland and Wellington.

FMI: www.taic.org.nz