Pilot walks away from gyrocopter crash northwest of Napier

The crash happened near SH5.

A gyrocopter pilot has walked away from a crash into a ditch near a Hawke's Bay state highway.

Police received a report about 2.30pm on Friday of a microlight gyrocopter which crashed into a ditch near State Highway 5, known as Napier-Taupō Rd, north of Te Haroto.

The incident happened between Kowaro Roadway and Paratu Rd.

"The gyrocopter is reportedly badly damaged but the pilot has been in touch to say he is okay," a police spokeswoman said.

A gyrocopter is a small aircraft which, unlike a helicopter, does not use an engine to power its upper rotor blade.

It instead has an engine which powers a back propeller that pushes the gyrocopter forward.