Update 2.50pm: Police and emergency services searching for a light plane reported to have been gone down off Ruakaka Beach have been stood down.
Police made inquiries with a local aero club at Whangarei Airport and established a gyro-copter had been in the area at the relevant time.
The pilot had been dipping up and down but had returned to the airport safely.
1.30pm: There have been reports of a light plane crashing off Ruakaka Beach about 1.30pm today.
Police and emergency services are still trying to locate the plane and at this stage it is not known if the plane is in the water or sand dunes. More soon