A young student pilot who survived a plane crash is vowing to fly again.
Chris Slee, 19, was the passenger in a two-seater Cessna 152 when it crashed in the remote Urewera ranges.
The pilot and instructor, 21-year-old Aleisha O'Reilly, died instantly and was farewelled in her hometown
of Matamata on Wednesday.
Mr Slee, who lives in Tauranga, attended the funeral but is yet to return to his studies at the city's Bay Flight International flying school.
"Because of his injuries he'll have to take a bit of time off, but he wants to fly again," his father, Graeme, said yesterday.
One of his son's fingers was "smashed to bits" when the plane crashed into a ravine northwest of Lake Waikaremoana, but other than that, his injuries were superficial. "He's doing surprisingly well," Mr Slee said.
The 19-year-old still had a laceration above his left eye, a swollen ankle, and bruising to the ankle and other parts of his body.
He had been due to have a medical examination as part of his course to become a commercial pilot, but that has been put on hold while he recovers at home on "strong painkillers".
After the plane crashed, Chris Slee checked Ms O'Reilly's pulse and found she was dead. He climbed out of the wrecked fuselage and up through thick bush to a road several hundred metres away, where he flagged down a car.
His grandmother, Heather, said his survival was a miracle.
Mr Slee snr would not comment on how his son was coping with his instructor's death but said the funeral, which he also attended, was a sad occasion for everybody.
Ms O'Reilly was considered a rising star in aviation circles.
She won an award for the "best display of airwomanship" at this year's Association of Women in Aviation rally in Rotorua.
Bay Flight International general manager Laurence Barnett said she was on track to become a 747 captain, and was well loved by her trainees.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission is investigating the crash.
