The glider pilot who died in a crash in the Hunter Range near Lake Hawea in Otago yesterday was a man visiting from Australia.
The man, from Melbourne, was competing in the South Island Regional Gliding Championships when he crashed at around 5.30pm, yesterday.
In a statement issued by Gliding New Zealand they say: "The southern gliding community has been saddened by the loss of an overseas pilot who was competing in the South Island regional competition based at the Omarama airfield".
GNZ confirmed the pilot "was a high hour pilot from Melbourne, Australia with in excess of 4500 hours in his logbook".
"He was very current with his flying and he had arrived more than a week ago in Omarama.
"His name will be released once next of kin have been notified."
Police say the death will be referred to the Coroner and the Civil Aviation Authority will be notified.
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