Injured man winched out of rough terrain in Hawke's Bay

A man rescued from a farm vehicle crash in remote country east of Hastings arriving at Hawke's Bay Hospital Wednesday afternoon. Photo / Paul Taylor

An injured man has been flown to Hawke's Bay Hospital after being winched out of remote country east of Hastings.

The man was described by Lowe Corporation Hawke's Bay Rescue Helicopter Service general manager Ian Wilmot as having serious injuries but in a stable condition.

The man was seen by an onlooker to raise a "thumb's up" signal to rescue crew as he was stretchered from the rescue helicopter in Hastings just before 2.30pm, about two hours and 20 minutes after the alarm was raised with a call to emergency services at 12.09pm.

The first call was that a person was reported trapped in or beneath a farm vehicle in barely accessible country off Kahuranaki Rd, between Hastings and Waimarama.

Fire and Emergency New Zealand shift management in Wellington said soon after 1pm, crews were sent from the Hastings station and the Havelock North and Maraetotara volunteer fire brigades.

The rescue helicopter began ferrying rescuers to the site from a rescue mission base in the area.

Police and St John Ambulance staff were also involved.

Wilmot said the helicopter's crews had to be winched down to the crashed vehicle to extract the man and hoist him to safety.

Another emergency medical call eventuated before the helicopter returned to Hastings meaning a Palmerston North rescue helicopter was called to ferry the rescuers from the crash scene, he said.