Two cheat death in helicopter crash near Taupō, one person seriously injured

Two people have survived a helicopter crash this morning near Taupō.

Emergency services rushed to the scene near Taharua Rd off State Highway 5, east of Taupō just before 7am.

Police confirmed that a single helicopter crash had been reported at 6.46am.

Three helicopters had been in the air at the time when one went down.

The other pilots scrambled to uplift the occupants of the crashed aircraft and took them to the hangar to be checked over by ambulance staff, a police spokeswoman said.

A St John spokeswoman said one person had been seriously injured, while another was moderately injured.

They sent two ambulances and one helicopter to the scene, she said.

A man in his 20s was flown to Hawke's Bay Hospital and remains in a stable condition, according to a District Health Board spokeswoman.

The other was taken to Taupō Hospital by road, the St John spokeswoman said.

A Civil Aviation Authority spokesman said they had been notified of the incident and were gathering more information before a decision was made whether to launch an investigation.