A paraglider spiralled out of control while flying around the top of Mauao and crashed into a pohutakawa tree.
Bay of Plenty Hang Gliding and Paragliding Club committee member Steve Hopper spotted the man flying around the top of the mountain but by the time he had parked his car to watch, the man had crashed into the tree.
"He basically just got unlucky. He wasn't doing anything stupid. Just part of the wing collapsed and forced him down.
"He got caught up in the pohutakawas up there. He was really unlucky and then lucky [he landed in the tree]. He was having a good fly," he said.
The man was gliding up near the ridge line on the southeastern side of Mauao when his wing collapsed sending him crashing into the trees below.