A second small plane crash within 24 hours saw four men nosedive on to the Tangahoe Station airstrip in a remote valley near the Whanganui River yesterday.
The pilot and three hunters were in the plane, a Cessna 185, when it crashed at around 11.30am. All the men received deep lacerations and head gashes but three could still walk; the fourth sustained a back injury.
A Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand spokesperson said the nearest road access was 20km away.
The men were airlifted to Waikato Hospital by two helicopters from Taupo's Philips Search and Rescue Trust.
Chief pilot of the Lion Foundation Rescue Helicopter, John Funnell, said the accident happened when the pilot, a Taupo man with 38 years of experience in the air, tried to land but was hit by gusts of wind. The pilot told him the gusts forced him to overrun the airstrip.
