'We couldn't get Stacey out'

Investigators examine wreckage at the scene of the fatal crash. Photo / Kerri Vernon

Simon Kirkpatrick dropped off his good mate at a temporary airstrip near Whangarei moments before tragedy struck.

Conditions were apparently "quite gusty" when his friend and business associate Stacey Hopper was preparing to take off in his Cessna 206 on Friday.

Mr Kirkpatrick said the high winds caught the plane as it took off causing it to dip and clip the Volkswagen van he was in with his 9-year-old son Jonathon and Gray Hopper, younger brother of Stacey.

A few seconds later, the plane was in flames with Mr Hopper trapped inside.

"The van didn't roll over, it was just clipped by the wing. The plane cart-wheeled, hit the ground and somersaulted and we couldn't get Stacey out," he said. "It was very traumatic."

Mr Kirkpatrick, who is a construction manager for the family company, Hopper Developments, Mr Hopper was being groomed to take over, was loathe to talk about the incident but said both he and his son had "very minor injuries".

He said his friend would be sorely missed.

"I'm devastated, so is my son - Stacey and him were very close.

"And, obviously, it's a very traumatic time for the family."

Mr Hopper's grandfather Ian Hopper said his grandson would "always get amongst it" and enjoyed jet boating, jet skiing, rally car driving and flying.

He said Stacey was a capable pilot. The 27-year-old would often commute from the company's North Shore headquarters at Orewa to its projects on the Coromandel Peninsula and near Whangarei.

"He didn't have his helicopter licence but no doubt he had his eye on it," said Mr Hopper from his Pauanui home.

"He was a great boy, he'd do things to the ultimate ... that's what happens, you know, he drove it to the edge."

Mr Hopper said his grandson was "probably a better driver" than his father and with Mr Kirkpatrick as his co-driver, the pair had some success in rallying.

Alan Henderson, media communications manager for Targa New Zealand, said Mr Hopper was well-liked and had been a regular in his Subaru WRX on the Targa circuit for about four years, following in his father, Leigh's, footsteps.

Mr Hopper was always among the front-runners in the rally's modern class, finishing third in last year's Targa Rotorua and sixth in the six-day Dunlop Targa from Auckland to Wellington.

Boating website powerboatworld.com reported that Mr Hopper said he inherited his father's natural feel for machinery, aircraft and mechanical equipment which earned him respect as a skilled driver, pilot or heavy machinery operator.

Stacey Hopper's funeral will be held at the North Shore Aero Club on Wednesday at 3pm, to be followed by a reception at the Silverdale Football Club.