Light plane crash in Moteuka injures six

UPDATE

A light aircraft crashed immediately after take-off at Motueka Aero Club this morning, seriously injuring its six passengers.

The crash, at about 9.30 am, happened when the plane crashed into kiwifruit vines near the airport, police southern communications Senior Sergeant Warren Kemp said.

The injured passengers were believed to be parachutists, but further details about the crash were not yet available.

Emergency services, including police, the Fire Service and rescue helicopter services were at the scene and the injured were to be flown to Nelson Hospital.

The parachutists were using the services of Skydive Nelson. A spokeswoman for the company would not comment on details but said operations this morning had been suspended.

She did not say what sort of aircraft the parachutists were using.

The Civil Aviation Authority had been notified shortly after the accident, CAA media liaison officer Bill Sommer said.

He confirmed six people, including the pilot, were on board a Cessna 185 single engine plane and were destined for a parachute drop.

It was thought the pilot got the plane airborne, but at about 30m altitude the aircraft lost power and he had to make an emergency landing.

"The pilot made a decision to put the plane down in a nearby paddock.

"... I believe that the area they dropped into was probably a kiwifruit paddock and they tend to have posts and wires everywhere.

"There's been a bit of damage to both the plane and the passengers, but we don't know how much yet," Mr Sommer said.

The plane would have glided down into the paddock, rather than falling straight down, he said.

He did not know how seriously injured the passengers were.

The CAA would not get involved in an investigation until after the Transport Accident Investigation Committee had looked into the matter.

A decision would then be made on whether anything unusual had occurred during the flight and if safety matters needed to be addressed, he said.

- NZPA