Long journey for daughter

The daughter of a man who is presumed dead after crashing a light plane in the Southern Alps is still trying to get home to be with her family after three days. Well-known West Coaster Tim Gibb crashed his light plane in the Southern Alps on Thursday after leaving Franz Josef about 9am, destined for Rangiora, near Christchurch. The downed plane was found by a rescue helicopter near Mt Nicholson on Thursday afternoon, but plans to get to it were put on hold by bad weather. His daughter Sarah Gibb was at sea on a boat in Croatia when she received the news. ‘‘I had to wait for [the boat] to dock then bus to Split, found a flight to Paris with a 24-hour layover and then going home via India and Australia. I’ve been trying for three days to get home, but my flights have been cancelled multiple times,’’ she said.