Crashed pilot's condition improves

A pilot badly burned when his home-made aircraft crashed on State Highway 1 near Taupo on Tuesday has improved slightly to a serious but stable condition in intensive care.

Simon Creasy, 67, and his cousin Alex Milner-Smith, 22, were flown to Waikato Hospital with bad burns. Mr Creasy was later transferred to Middlemore Hospital in Auckland.

Mr Milner-Smith remains in intensive care at Waikato.