Friends pay tribute to gliding instructor Bo Nilsson after fatal microlight crash

Bo Nilsson has been named as the man killed in a plane crash near Omarama. Photo / Supplied

The friends of a respected pilot who taught gliding for more two decades have paid tribute to him after he was killed in a microlight crash.

Bo Nilsson died when the Baby Great Lakes microlight he was flying crashed in a paddock near Twizel-Omarama Rd at 10.46am on Monday.

Gavin Willis, who operated Glide Omarama for more than two decades, worked with Nilsson for much of that.

He was at the airfield on the morning of the crash and watched Nilsson take off, he said.

About an hour later, a police car arrived and told them there had been a crash.

"We were shocked, just in disbelief. He was a grandfather of us all. A wise man, that will be sorely missed," he said.

Nilsson lived in Omarama for 20 years, and had been a gliding instructor for all of that time.

''He was an A category gliding instructor, which is as good as you get.''

He would work New Zealand summers in Omarama and Northern Hemisphere summers in Wales.

Originally from Sweden, he left the country in his 20s and worked on cargo boats, traveling the world.

Wills said he somehow found himself in Wellington and decided to settle in New Zealand where he became a "very successful" restaurateur.

After learning to fly gliders, he sold his businesses and became a full-time instructor.

His wife predeceased him and he was survived by a daughter in Auckland and son in Greece.

Omarama Airfield chairman Clive Geddes said the pilot had taken off from the airfield on a solo flight on Monday morning.

He was a very experienced glider and microlight pilot, Geddes said.

''[He was] a guy who was very widely respected for his abilities and for his ability to help other people.''

Police confirmed the man had been the sole occupant of the plane and said he was found dead at the scene.

Geddes said there had been ''nothing exceptional'' in the weather conditions at the airfield.

A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) spokesman said investigators would examine the crash scene and interview first responders and other witnesses.

Members of the public who witnessed the crash were encouraged to contact CAA, the spokesman said.

Waitaki District mayor Gary Kircher said the event was tragic and he had called to check in on acquaintances who flew when he heard the news.

There were a lot of people involved in aviation in the area, and the crash would affect a wide section of the community, he said.

- Additional reporting Otago Daily Times