The breakdown of Prime Minister John Key's military plane in Australia is the latest in a series of incidents.

A kitesurfer has cheated possible death after becoming tangled in his kite lines at Muriwai Beach.

Emergency services have been called to Whenuapai Airbase after the crew were forced to evacuate a military aircraft because of an electrical fault.

Residents of an Auckland neighbourhood have had no - or limited - phone and internet access for six weeks which they say is outrageous.

Up to 15,000 houses could be built in Whenuapai with the help of the Government's new infrastructure fund, Housing Minister Nick Smith says.

WATCH: Crew on board the plane said they had suffered a loss of cabin pressure and there were reports of smoke in the cockpit.

A plane has crash landed at Whenuapai Airport in Auckland tonight after its landing gear would not come down.

Defence Minister Gerry Brownlee has clipped the wings of a fledgling regional airline before it can get off the ground.

Specialised search teams tunnel through the darkness to find survivors of the quake.

The Air Force crewmen killed in an Anzac Day crash were farewelled at a full military funeral in Ohakea this afternoon.