A long night ahead for four members of the recovery team working on the Fox Glacier helicopter crash, with bad weather leaving them stranded on the glacier.

A team of 12 made it to the site of the crash this afternoon.

They managed to prepare the ground for the retrieval operation, before weather started deteriorating, and it became unsafe to fly all of them back to the township.

Sergeant Sean Judd says though it wasn't part of the plan, having staff on the glacier isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Having them close by, ready to go again
should the weather allow us to get up there even for a short time, well that cuts down our preparation time and means we can spend more time on site."

It's hoped the weather will clear for long enough tomorrow to retrieve the remaining three bodies from the site.