Skydiver escapes death in Queenstown, suffering moderate injuries in a crash

A man has escaped serious injuries in a skydiving incident near Queenstown, crash-landing after a recreational parachute jump.

The skydiver was on a solo recreational flight - not a tandem skydive - and sustained the injuries as he came in to land at the NZOne landing zone.

NZOne Skydive said the man was taken by ambulance to Lakes District Hospital for further assessment after the incident occurred around 3.25pm.

Police report the 29-year-old man landed about 50 metres from the NZOne buildings at Frankton, near Queenstown.

A police spokesperson said the Civil Aviation Authority will investigate the incident.

St John spokesman Gerard Campbell said they were called to a skydiving accident around 3.30pm and the man was taken to Lakes District Hospital.

Earlier this afternoon NZOne Skydive confirmed an incident had occurred with one of its jumpers today.

"There has been an incident, emergency services have been advised. The appropriate response is in place to deal with the situation," a spokesman said

Elsewhere, a paraglider was flown to Dunedin Hospital with serious injuries after an incident near Cardrona Alpine Resort.

A police spokesman said officers attended the crash after a personal locator beacon was set off.

A St John spokesman said it was notified at 12.20pm.

The woman was flown by helicopter to Dunedin with serious injuries, he said.

In January, a tandem skydiver jumping with NZONE died after he and an instructor crashed into Lake Wakatipu.

The tandem master who survived the crash was plucked out of the water after a helicopter pilot who had been flying nearby heard a distress call over the radio about the incident and called for help.

Two of his colleagues jumped into a boat and came to the rescue of the tandem master in the water.

At the time NZONE director Anthony Ritter said it was the company's first fatal incident in 27 years.

- with Otago Daily Times