A $50,000 replica World War II German fighter plane which was being flown to its new home from Tauranga Airport crash-landed in a paddock near Levin.
The pilot and owner, Murray Milnes, had purchased the Focke-Wulf 190 from Bay Flight's chief flying instructor Phil Hooker and was heading south to Paraparaumu Airport when the plane started losing power.
Media reports said Mr Milnes received a fractured skull and two broken ankles when the plane skidded across a paddock, narrowly missed a water trough and hit a fence.
Prior to the crash, the 27-year-old replica of the famous fighter had been on display for three years at Tauranga's Classic Flyers Museum and put in a lot of appearances at New Zealand air shows.
Mr Hooker told the Bay of Plenty Times that the 60 per cent-scale Focke-Wulf had become surplus to requirements because he did not need it and hardly ever flew it.