Woman injured in light plane crash near Tauranga

A woman escaped with minor leg injuries after the plane she was in with her husband crashed near Tauranga.

The couple had been doing a practice flight in their Murphy Super Rebel 2500, which is similar to a Cessna, ahead of their plans to fly their plane south.

The plane came to rest on the side of a hill on farmland about 2km along Waitao Rd, south of Papamoa Beach, resulting in a small fuel leak.

Civil Aviation Authority communications manager Mike Richards said the plane crashed after it overshot a bank at the end of a runway.

There was some damage to the aircraft.

Pilot of the Rotorua-based BayTrust Rescue Helicopter, Ben Fry, said the 69-year-old local woman in the plane was flown to Tauranga Hospital with minor leg injuries.

The husband was uninjured.

St John staff had stabilised her when the helicopter arrived and the helicopter was used due to the rough terrain and remote location of the accident. The area was not accessible by road.

A reporter at the scene said there were fire trucks parked on Waitao Rd and an ambulance near the crash site.

Northern Fire Communications shift manager Megan Ruru said a 111 call came in about 3.34pm about a light plane crash.

A witness told Sunlive.co.nz he saw the crash.

"We were driving past and the plane looked like it was coming into land and it crashed."

Mike Richards said the pilot had a current licence and the "minor accident" was being investigated by Civil Avation Authority safety investigators.