KEY POINTS:
Evergreen pilot Syd Harvey, 86, and his mate Murray Hagen know how to pick a good crash-landing spot.
Yesterday, the pair walked away unscathed after the single engine on their Pioneer aircraft failed and they had to make an emergency landing on Great Mercury Island, owned by Sir Michael Fay and fellow multimillionaire David Richwhite.
Both financiers were at home.
Sir Michael said last night: "Boy, they were lucky because there's a lot of water out there. They were lucky there was an island there."
Sir Michael said that as he arrived, the pair were tying down the wreckage to stop it from blowing away.
"They were a couple of good oldtimers," he said. "They picked themselves up and had their bags waiting for when the Westpac rescue helicopter arrived."
The two men left Whangarei about 12.15pm on their way to an air show in Tauranga this weekend, but put out a mayday call at 1pm.
Mr Hagen, 57, a flight instructor who taught Mr Harvey to fly 14 years ago, said there could be worse places to have an engine fail than over Great Mercury Island.
"We were approaching the island at 2000ft [about 600m] and the engine started running very rough. We tried a few things but it didn't improve.
"We were descending, and there is a very good airstrip on the island but unfortunately we weren't going to make it. We decided to aim for the road," Mr Hagen said.
With no power, the plane glided over a gully and into a paddock, just failing to clear a fence, which damaged the undercarriage. The plane stopped about 20m later.
But when a Hummer SUV came roaring up the road, Mr Hagen wondered who was coming to the rescue.
"They're the most hospitable guys I've struck. Great guys."
While the pilots were waiting for the Westpac helicopter, the multimillionaires had a word of advice for them - once they were back at the Auckland rescue base they should head to the next-door restaurant.
"They told us to go up there and have a stiff whisky and a beer," Mr Hagen said.
"I'm a bit shaky, so I might."
Mr Harvey said the crash would not dent his love of being in the air.
"Every landing's a good one if you walk away from it."
Mr Harvey was in control of the plane when it got into difficulty, but quickly handed over to his more experienced co-pilot - who also owns the aircraft.
Rescue pilot Steve Oliver said it was originally thought the two men had been heading towards the Hauraki Gulf, and the helicopter crew feared the worst.
"Little Barrier's pretty inhospitable and its coast is rugged - we were thinking it could have crashed in the water as well."
Mr Oliver said that with no other land in sight for 24km the two flyers had done everything right.
