The condition of the instructor pilot whose aircraft crash landed in the Ruahine ranges, has deteriorated.
He has been moved from Palmerston North to Wellington hospital's intensive care unit with leg and head injuries.
His trainee remains in a stable condition in Palmerston North hospital.
The two-seat Piper-Tomahawk went down on Monday afternoon while flying from Hawke's Bay to Manawatu.
Both pilots survived by performing what their rescuers described as a miraculous crash landing in rugged terrain.
A trainee pilot, aged 18, is described as being in a stable condition in Palmerston North hospital with serious chest and leg injuries.
Air Hawke's Bay training school chief executive Kevin England told Morning Report the instructor has about 2000 hours of flying experience and probably assisted in safely crash-landing the plane.
A Civil Aviation Authority investigator will visit the site on Tuesday morning.
Difficult rescue
Two punga trees held up the aircraft, stopping it from slipping down a ravine.
St John paramedic Steve Owen says rescuers the wreckage was precariously positioned on a steep hillside.
He says the plane's wings were used as makeshift stretchers so the men could be given pain relief for their multiple fractures.
