One dead in gyrocopter crash in Waikato

The crash occurred near the Piopio-Aria golf course.

One person has died after a gyrocopter crashed in Te Mapara, Waikato.

A Piopio-Aria Golf Club member said police and fire were in attendance.

"It's a gyrocopter ... It's over the hills past the golf course."

She said "a few guys playing golf" saw the crash and notified her.

The crash was reported about 2.40pm today.

A scene examination is under way and Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) investigators were travelling to the site.

CAA spokesman Mike Richards said details of the accident were still being gathered and the authority would know more once its investigators arrived.

Richards confirmed it was a small gyrocopter which had crashed, not a microlight as police had initially reported.

Northern fire communications shift manager Daniel Nicholson said firefighters from Piopio and Te Kuiti attended the gyrocopter accident at the Piopio-Aria Golf Club on State Highway 3, along with St John Ambulance and police.

Nicholson said the fire service received the call at 2.41pm and was advised a man had been involved.

"The incident is quite some distance from the road side so it's taking quite a while to get some details back and forth. The fire service was accessing the scene using a 4WD."

A person who answered the phone at the golf course said she had been in the golf club and not witnessed the accident, but that everyone was shaken by what happened.