Dental records have helped confirm that the body recovered from the seabed off Kapiti Island is that of Barry Ronald Cowley.
Mr Cowley, 58, of Kaiapoi, Christchurch, was the pilot of the Convair freight plane which crashed into the sea between Peka Peka and Kapiti Island during the height of a rainstorm on Friday night, 3 October.
Police search spokesman Senior Sergeant Mike Coleman says Mr Cowley’s body was recovered from the cockpit on Saturday night. Dental records and papers found on the body helped confirm Mr Cowley’s identity.
A post mortem was held in Wellington today, the results of which will be passed to the coroner.
Mr Coleman says winds and rough seas prevented any salvage operation taking place today.
"We hope conditions will be more favourable tomorrow although the chances of finding the co-pilot, Paul Miller, are very slim," Mr Coleman says.