Two men have been killed in a plane crash in Feilding.
The plane was a two-seater Yak aircraft, which crashed at Timona Park at about 10.45am on Monday.
Inspector Mark Harrison says both men were well known in the Manawatu and police are now notifying friends and family.
Mr Harrison told Checkpoint he lives near the park and heard the impact when the plane hit the ground.
He arrived on the scene to find the wrecked aircraft in the centre of the park engulfed in flames.
An eyewitness says the plane was trailing smoke before it crashed, leaving blackened wreckage strewn across the park.
Police say many people were in the park at the time and it is extremely lucky no one on the ground was hurt.
Because of the state of the plane, police were not immediately able to tell how many people were onboard.
However, a person who was in contact with the plane just before the crash, has advised them there were two aboard.
The area is cordoned off so a scene examination can be conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority and police.
Inspector Harrison say police will be investigating whether the aircraft was doing an aerobatic manoeuvre before it crashed.
He says the plane was a type used for aerobatic manoeuvres and it appears the two men on board had taken it up for a recreational flight from the nearby Taonui Airfield.
A Disaster Victim Identification team was arriving on Monday evening to recover the bodies of the two men.
