Two escape wreckage as gyrocopter crashes

The men managed to swim from the wreckage with only minor injuries. Photo / Supplied

Two men who survived a gyrocopter crash in Tauranga Harbour yesterday escaped the fast-sinking wreckage with only minor injuries.

Boaties plucked two men from the water after the gyrocopter crashed about 500m offshore between Matakana Island and Mt Maunganui shortly after 4pm.

The men had managed to swim from the wreckage, Acting Senior Sergeant Steve Hindmarsh of Tauranga said. "It went down pretty quickly, by all accounts," he said.

"Fortunately there were a couple of boaties who saw what happened and were very close by, so a boat picked up the two passengers from the gyrocopter."

Mr Hindmarsh said the men were very lucky to have survived.

"I guess getting out of these machines once they hit the water and go under is quite difficult, so they were lucky."

The men were taken to Tauranga Hospital.

The pilot has already been discharged. The passenger, who received a slight graze on his arm, was being kept in hospital for observation.

The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating.