'I guess I'm a bit of a miracle' - plane crash survivor

Alan and Anne Warner, whose plane crashed near Whangamomona last month. Photo / Facebook

A Taranaki woman who miraculously escaped a light plane crash with her husband is back walking only a week after having spinal surgery.

Speaking from her Christchurch Hospital bed, Anne Warner told NZME she was "going very well".

"I'm definitely going to make a full recovery," she said.

Anne Warner and her husband Alan Warner narrowly cheated death after their single-engine aircraft crashed in bad weather near Whangamomona, Taranki two weeks ago.

They were reported missing when their plane failed to reach Stratford Aerodrome after taking off from Whitianga on August 23.

The couple, both in their 50s, were found the next day near the upturned wreckage but spent a cold night in the dense bush.

Anne Warner didn't want to talk about her terrifying ordeal.

"We're quite private people. We just want to concentrate on getting me back to normal," she said.

She is looking to head back to Taranaki as soon as a medical flight is organised, but said she hadn't thought about getting back into smaller aircraft.

"I'd like to think I'll never say never. I still don't have a fear of flying."

Anne Warner in the TSB Bank rescue helicopter at the Base Hospital in New Plymouth. Photo / Rob Tucker

Anne Warner said her husband was a "pretty resilient" man and she praised his help over the past two weeks.

He's still by her bedside and two of her children and their partners visited last week.

"We've got great attitudes. We're fighting spirits. That's why I'm making the progress that I am... I guess I'm a bit of a miracle really."

Only last Friday Anne Warner went under the knife to have pins inserted in her back after she suffered two crushed vertebrae.

She also had chest injuries from the crash.

Now she's practicing walking again, up and down the ward with the help of a frame.

The rest of time she passes by reading magazines and listening to the radio and she said she's not in too much pain.

Alan Warner suffered moderate back injuries and was discharged from Taranaki Base Hospital the night the pair, who live in Waitara, were found.