Fisherman waiting for telling off by mum after struck by plane

A fisherman hit in the head by a plane on Matata Beach yesterday is hoping to be out of hospital today. Photo/Matata Volunteer Fire Brigade

A Whakatane fisherman hit on the head by a plane after netting "two beauties" is now more worried about the imminent telling-off by his mother than recovering from his head injuries.

Speaking on behalf of the 35-year-old, who did not want to be named, the man's younger brother said their mother had warned him about hurting himself while fishing.

The man said his brother was enjoying a few weeks off work and each day has been heading to his favourite spot on Matata Beach to catch a few fish after taking his kids to school.

"Yesterday was just like any other day, he did some fishing. He was unaware of where the plane landed. The [pilot] contacted him and my brother asked him what position he was facing when the plane hit him. [His] back was towards the plane."

His brother suspected he was putting the fish away, and didn't hear the plane as it zoomed in after running out of fuel.

The plane then struck him on the head, knocking him unconscious. The man said the pilot had since been in contact with his brother and wanted to take him out for coffee and buy him a fishing rod.

His brother was hoping to get out of hospital today, he said.

He said his prognosis was looking good, and he was hoping to get out of hospital today.

He was likely to experience headaches over the next couple of weeks and has a sore neck from a whiplash injury, but the headache could get worse tonight.

"He's going to get a major headache tonight when my mum calls him and tells him off. I feel sorry for him, two times. My mum warned him to stop fishing because she thinks it's dangerous. He texted me early this morning saying 'not looking forward to mum's call'."

He said they'd had a laugh about what happened, and his brother knows how ridiculously unlucky he was to get hit.

"He was telling me it was a one in a million chance of a small plane hitting him on the beach, that it had landed where he was. We were laughing and joking about it. He's all good on it.

"I called him and I was like 'woah, what happened there' and he said 'oh, I didn't want to tell you because I'm feeling a bit shame about it'. I was like 'man, you were knocked out' and he just started laughing."

He was also expecting his brother's colleagues to give him a bit of stick about what happened.

"He's got quite a few bros there and they'll hard out taking the piss out of him as well because they all fish as well. Us Samoans love fishing."

His brother doesn't remember anything of the plane hitting him, but he did recall catching a couple of big fish - which are now in the possession of the Matata Volunteer Fire Brigade.

"I think that's the only thing on his mind right now, these two beauties that he caught.
My mum is just waiting to talk to him and tell him, 'you're working, you're making good money, go and buy a bloody fish'."

He said Matata Beach was his favourite spot but he wasn't sure if he would look for anywhere new.

"Yeah, it's his usual spot. He said it's nice and quiet there. But I think he might have to find a new spot."

He was unsure exactly what fish his brother caught, but knew that the size of it would grow each time his story gets told over the coming years.

Matata firefighters posted a message about the crash on Facebook after the event.

"He had been fishing on Matata Beach when a light aircraft, out of fuel swooped low, gliding, over the DOC Camp to make an emergency landing on the beach, cleaning up the VERY unlucky fisherman and striking him in the head."

Police also confirmed the man had been clipped on the head during the crash landing, which has been referred to the Civil Avaiation Authority.

The crash has been referred to the Civil Aviation Authority.