A local fishing trawler has snagged a plane in their nets in the waters around Great Barrier Island.
The operators of the Sanford fishing trawler San Kawhai were trawling off the island's coast about 11.10am this morning when they made the unusual discovery.
They notified the Civil Aviation Authority and the New Zealand Rescue Centre.
Police say that if the plane located by the fishing trawler was being flown by missing Auckland pilot Daroish Kraidy his family and close associates will be contacted.
Kraidy's aerobatic biplane disappeared from radar detection shortly after take-off from Ardmore airfield near Auckland on Tuesday 25 March.