A preliminary report by the Civil Aviation Authority has found that a fatal plane crash near Arrowtown on 17 October happened because the pilot was attempting to avoid cattle on the airstrip.
The pilot, 59-year-old Douglas Sloan, was killed when his plane nose-dived after an aborted landing attempt at a private airstrip just south of Arrowtown.
His two passengers, a 36-year-old man and a 61-year-old woman, suffered serious injuries.
The authority's report says the pilot was flying in strong winds and low over the airstrip in a possible attempt to clear cattle from the area.
During his second landing attempt, Mr Sloan pulled away from the airstrip and turned left, but the plane lost airspeed and crashed.
