UPDATED: 6:19pm: A couple whose light plane crashed while coming into land came away with minor injuries.
Civil Aviation Authority communications manager Mike Richards told the Bay of Plenty Times last night that the couple had been doing a practice flight in their Murphy Super Rebel 2500, which is similar to a Cessna, ahead of their plans to fly their plane down south.
The plane crashed after it over ran a bank at the end of runway and there was some damage to the aircraft, he said.
Mr Richards said the pilot had a current licence and the "minor accident" was being investigated by Civil Aviation Authority safety investigators, he said.
Pilot of the Rotorua-based BayTrust Rescue Helicopter, Ben Fry, said the 69-year-old local woman in the plane was flown to Tauranga Hospital with minor leg injuries.