Police have named the man who died in a microlight plane crash at Tauranga Airport on Monday morning.
He was 56-year-old Jeffery Arthur Bryant of Piopio.
Inspector Karl Wright St Clair says the microlight crashed shortly after takeoff: witnesses saw it spiralling downwards out of control.
It crashed on a grass strip between two runways at about 8am and Mr Bryant died at the scene.
The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating.
