WELLINGTON, New Zealand >> A line scrawled by a villager in beach sand helped point airborne searchers to a downed helicopter pilot after his aircraft crashed Thursday into a bay on the coast of northern New Zealand, rescue officials said.

The pilot, very cold and suffering “semi-shock” but otherwise mostly unhurt, was winched from the water by a rescue helicopter two hours after witnesses heard his machine crash in a bay about 20 miles south of Whangarei Heads, Rescue Coordination Center spokesman Neville Blackmore said.

Whangarei resident Grant Harper said he and his wife were on the beach when they heard a strange noise followed by “one hell of a bang” and a splash.

They phoned police and tried to describe the crash site, but — concerned there might be confusion — told officers they would draw a line on the beach to show rescue aircraft crew the direction they should follow to the crashed helicopter.

The crash was too far off shore to swim out, Harper said.

“It’s a horrible feeling, there’s someone in the water out there and you can’t do much, you do what you can do, every little bit helps, really.”

Blackmore said two aircraft and five boats searched for two hours for the pilot. Five witnesses had seen the crash from shore and “it was fantastic that the public responded quickly and called police,” he said.

The pilot, who was taken to Whangarei Hospital for treatment, was “extremely lucky to be alive,” Blackmore told National Radio.

Rescue helicopter pilot Dean Voelkerling said it was good fortune to have witnesses on the shore who could give information on the direction of the crash.

“He was pretty much right where they said he would be,” Voelkerling said.