A 60-year-old man who crashed his glider in thick bush in the Nelson Lakes district this afternoon was lucky to escape without serious injury, says a National Rescue Co-ordination Centre (RCC) spokesman
Wellington RCC was alerted to the crash by an emergency locator beacon going off close to St Arnaud in Nelson Lakes about 4pm, RCC spokesman Greg Johnston said.
After the beacon went off RCC were able to contact the pilot, who is from Gore, on his cell phone by looking through the registry of locator beacons, Mr Johnston said.
The pilot told the RCC he was uninjured but because he was in thick bush a rescue helicopter from Nelson was sent pick him up, he said.
The pilot and wreckage of the glider were found about 7km south of the St Arnaud Lakes Station airfield beneath 70ft (21m) beech trees, a Summit Rescue Helicopter spokesperson said.
The pilot was taken to Nelson hospital for assessment with suspected back injuries.
Aircraft crashes, "for obvious reasons", could cause serious injury and the man was lucky to escape with only minor injuries, Mr Johnston said.
The cause of the crash was unknown.
- NZPA
Pilot escapes uninjured in glider crash
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