The bodies of a telecoms executive and his wife who were killed in a plane crash have been recovered near Auckland.

American Eric Hertz, 58, and his wife Kathy, 64, were pulled from the wreckage of Mr Hertz’s small plane 56 metres under the sea off the coast of New Zealand over the weekend.

The couple, who live in New Zealand, had been on their way to visit their daughter in Christchurch. During the journey on March 30, experienced pilot Mr Hertz radioed authorities to say the engine had failed. The plane was discovered the next day but difficult conditions meant the bodies were not recovered until this weekend.

Mr Hertz had been chief executive of New Zealand’s Two Degrees Mobile since 2009. The newest entrant to the country’s mobile market, a tribute from rival company Vodafone said Two Degrees "must be the most successful new mobile entrant that the world has ever seen".

His wife, Kathy, worked for the Auckland University of Technology, helping young people prepare for the workplace, the Associated Press reported.

Mr Hertz was a guest speaker at Jewish Professionals New Zealand last year.