Hovercraft accident victim was pursuing his dream

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A man who died in a horrific accident while testing his homemade hovercraft was following his dream, says his family.

Dr Alastair Kenneth Senior, 40, from west Auckland, died instantly from severe injuries when his hovercraft suffered a mechanical failure, causing a blade to shear off and hit him in the head on an outing to Muriwai Beach, west of Auckland, on Sunday.

Waitemata police Sergeant Colin Nuttall said there had been a "collapse in the structure'' but it was not clear what exactly had gone wrong.

It had earlier been reported Dr Senior had been decapitated but Mr Nuttall said that was not accurate.

"But a blade coming at that speed hitting someone in the back of the head is going to do some pretty severe damage.''

A death notice yesterday said Dr Senior "died in pursuit of his dream''.

His partner was at Muriwai when the accident happened but it was not known if she saw the impact.

Several other people were also there.

"It was extremely disturbing for everyone who was out there,'' Mr Nuttall said.

Engineers were helping police, but it was difficult to know which other agencies should be involved, he said.

"If it was something of commercial interest Maritime New Zealand would have an interest. If it was a car accident we would be able to do our usual investigations -- that's our bread and butter -- but it was a personally built piece of machinery for personal use.

"It's something out of the norm for us.''

Inquiries were continuing.

He urged anyone who saw the accident to contact police.

- NZPA