A woman escaped with minor leg injuries after the plane she was in with her husband crashed near Tauranga.
The couple had been doing a practice flight in their Murphy Super Rebel 2500, which is similar to a Cessna, ahead of their plans to fly their plane south.
The plane came to rest on the side of a hill on farmland about 2km along Waitao Rd, south of Papamoa Beach, resulting in a small fuel leak.
Civil Aviation Authority communications manager Mike Richards said the plane crashed after it overshot a bank at the end of a runway.