A Tauranga gyrocopter pilot is in Hutt Hospital after suffering burns when his machine crashed in a farmer's paddock next to the Dannevirke Aerodrome runway on Friday night.
The Dannevirke News has been told the gyrocopter the man was flying "just fell out of the sky", and burst into flames when it hit the ground at around 7.30pm Friday.
"He was lucky he got his seatbelt undone and was out of the gyrocopter as quickly as he could," a witness said.
The pilot suffered burns and was taken to Palmerston North Hospital by the Palmerston North Rescue Helicopter with serious injuries, before being transferred to Hutt Hospital's burns unit.
The gyrocopter was one of 19 based at the Dannevirke Aerodrome for the traditional Auckland Anniversary weekend get-together.