Man burned as vintage plane engine backfires

A freak accident has left a Tauranga man with burns to his hands, face and chest after an antique aircraft engine he was testing backfired.

The incident, described by Station Officer Lindsay Nicol of the Mt Maunganui Fire Service as a "fuel flash fire", is believed to have occurred when the 62-year-old tried to start his home-built plane at the Classic Flyers' base at Mt Maunganui.

Firefighters were called to the scene just after 10am on Friday.

Mr Nicol said that by the time they arrived, staff from the neighbouring Thrifty Car Rental firm had already applied water to the man's burns.

Thrifty Car Rental owner Paul Collins said he did not see the fire but heard the engine backfire, followed by people screaming out to the man to "drop and roll".

Mr Collins said that by the time he got outside, the man had his shirt off and was being attended to by a group of people at the Classic Flyers Museum.

"I spent about 15 minutes watering him down with a hose and got my wife to ring the ambulance," he said.

Mr Collins said the injured man, whom he did not know, insisted he did not need to go to hospital and would be okay after some salve was put on his burns.

He said he was quite worried about what his wife would say.

But Mr Collins said it was clear the man was far more seriously injured than he realised.

"His hands got the worst of it, with the skin peeled back and bleeding. He also had a burn to his neck, but still managed to walk into the ambulance."

Mr Nicol said the aircraft engine, mounted on a frame outside the hangar, might possibly have been "over-primed" with fuel, causing it to backfire.

There was no damage to the engine or nearby property.

Mt Maunganui St John area manager Gary Bishell said ambulance personnel were called to the scene at 10.04am and found the man with moderately serious burns to his face, hands and chest.

He was taken to Tauranga Hospital.

Mr Bishell said the man was talking to ambulance staff at the scene but needed to be admitted to hospital because of the extent of the burns to his hands.

He was transferred to Waikato Hospital by the TrustPower TECT Rescue Helicopter for further treatment.

Waikato Hospital spokeswoman Mary Anne Gill gave the man's condition as satisfactory and said he would probably be discharged.

Classic Flyers New Zealand spokesman Dave Love said the incident occurred as the man was doing a test run on the engine, which had recently been refurbished.

Mr Love said the Department of Labour was investigating and he would not be making any further comment.

Senior communications adviser Steve Jones confirmed that the department was investigating but also refused to make further comment.

- APN