The pilot of a light aircraft which crash-landed in an Auckland school paddock yesterday was lucky to walk away unscathed after the plane's engine died.
The aircraft, believed to be a home-built Stoddard-Hamilton Glasair, came down in Macleans Reserve, Bucklands Beach, 15km east of downtown Auckland, about 2.45pm.
Pilot Brian Williams did not want to speak to reporters at the scene, saying only "I'm okay ... I'm a lucky man," the New Zealand Herald reported.
The plane, worth about $95,000, suffered damage to its engine, propeller and underside.
Witness Chris Loader was on the beach and could hear the plane's engine die.
"You could just hear the engine splutter a bit and we could tell that it was having a bit of trouble. He was very low," he told the newspaper.
"I heard one of the officers say he just made it over the crest [of the hill], otherwise he would have landed in the trees over there."
Police said the pilot chose the Macleans Reserve, which backs onto Macleans College and is next to the Eastern Beach area, because it was a sizeable reserve.
Witnesses said the landing spot was not far from the ocean's edge and about 100m from houses in the nearby suburb.
The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed an investigation into the precautionary landing was underway.
Mr Williams' insurance company was in charge of removing the plane.
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