A blade of grass blamed for Boxing Day brush with death

Pilot Alan Butler narrowly avoided beach-goers in the Boxing Day crash. Photo / One News

Foreign object in fuel system likely cause of Raglan plane crash.

A blade of grass may have been responsible for a plane crash off Raglan Beach on Boxing Day.

Pilot Alan Butler, 23, and his passengers, sister Leanne Butler, 26, and her husband, Kevin Paulsen, 46, miraculously survived after their Piper Cherokee ditched in the water, as hundreds of beach-goers watched.

The trio had taken the plane for an inspection flight.

A report released by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to the Herald on Sunday under the Official Information Act revealed the cause of the crash could have been a "blade of grass, grass seed or insect".

Leanne suffered life-threatening injuries in the crash and was admitted to Waikato Hospital's high dependency unit.

Paulsen had cuts running down his legs and Alan had cuts to his head. Despite appearing "pale", he had been able to walk by himself to an ambulance.

Butler was praised for his split-second decision to slam into water instead of crash-landing among hundreds of beach-goers.

The CAA report found there were no defects which could account for the engine's loss of power.

"It is possible that as the aircraft was operating from a grass runway, a foreign object (blade of grass, grass seed or insect) may have lodged in the carburettor interrupting the fuel flow to the engine," it read.

Leanne Butler, 26.

"With the submersion of the aircraft in the estuary, this object could have more than likely been flushed from the carburettor."

Paulsen and Alan Butler said it was a "relief" to see the contents of the report, although they had already suspected the cause of the crash may have been something blocking fuel flow to the plane's engine.

"We knew already from the checks that were carried out in the last few seconds of the flight that the probable cause was a blockage in the carburettor caused by a grass seed or small foreign object. Post investigation by the CAA confirmed this," Paulsen said.

"It was a relief to know that the fault was beyond our control."

Despite their brush with death, Paulsen said the trio still flew regularly.

According to the report, after a normal take-off, the aircraft suffered a complete engine power loss at approximately 150 feet.

"There were no warning signs or indications prior to the power loss occurring.

"The immediate actions in the event of an engine failure were carried out, apart from changing the fuel tank selection due to a lack of time," it read.

Pilot Alan Butler, 23.

"However, there was sufficient fuel in both fuel tanks prior to take-off. Engine power was not restored and the pilot maneuvered the aircraft over the Raglan estuary to avoid people and then successfully ditched the aircraft."

Paulsen said it was lucky his brother-in-law had been able to carry out a textbook landing into the water, avoiding the crowds.

After the crash, Paulsen spoke to the Herald on Sunday from his wife's bedside at Waikato Hospital and said there had been no time to panic before the crash.

"Our options were very limited. When you see all those people, what are you going to do? You're going to avoid them," he said.

"I can't say there was a lot of panic. You try to do as much as you can. If anything, we were trying to figure out what it was and running through the checks."

A witness to the crash, Maria Pualua, labelled Butler a "hero" for avoiding the shocked beach-goers.

"Everyone scattered on the beach so it was quite scary," she said. "It was quite a narrow miss, so in that sense [the pilot] is a hero. I'm just glad they're all alive.

"It's good that he also missed the town because several people at least would've died if he had hit the town."