KEY POINTS:
Two men walked away uninjured after their microlight plane made a forced landing in a paddock near Westport yesterday afternoon.
Trainee pilot Kevin Richards and his instructor Darryl Williams, both of Westport, had already flown to Hokitika.
They were within sight of Westport airport when the engine started to "miss badly" at a height of about 243 metres, Mr Richards said.
Mr Williams took over and landed the plane beside an airstrip in the paddock.
"It wasn't too bad, it was just text book landing really," Mr Richards said.
"It's one of the things you're taught as part of the training, if you have an engine failure or whatever, how to bring the aircraft down. No dramas really."
The plane lost a nosewheel as it hit a bump on landing but sustained no structural damage.
- NZPA
