A Rotorua gyrocopter pilot whose machine suddenly lost power over Greymouth and crash-landed on the beach has walked away without a scratch.
John Saunders only hurt himself as he tried to right the wreckage, ripping off a thumbnail in the process.
Flames coming out of the exhaust were quickly extinguished with the help of passersby on the beach.
Mr Saunders, who had been in Greymouth for three days, decided to fly over the beach shortly before 4pm on Monday.
After take-off from the aerodrome the machine lost power. He said he would not know what went wrong until he stripped the machine, but suspected the turbo-charger on the engine may have died.