Crop spraying pilot died doing what he loved

Top dressing pilot Andrew Wilde died doing the job he loved but people who knew him say he was well aware of the risks.

The 38-year-old Whakatane father of three was killed when the plane he was piloting for aerial spraying company Super Air crashed into farmland, 4km south of Opotiki on Saturday. He had been crop spraying in the morning when his plane went down in a valley at the end of Matchett Rd.

His body and the plane's wreckage were found by Opotiki police after Mr Wilde was reported overdue from a run at 1.40pm.

It's unclear what caused the crash but police say witnesses reported seeing smoke coming from over the ridge where the plane was last seen heading. The Civil Aviation Authority and Transport Accident Investigation Commission were informed and began their inquiries into the crash late on Saturday afternoon.

The accident comes three years after Mr Wilde walked away from a plane crash about 200km from Gisborne.

He was the passenger in a topdressing plane piloted by former Rotorua man Gary Langman. The aircraft suffered engine failure shortly after taking off from a remote East Cape farm in the Waikura Valley in July 2004.

The plane landed in a creek and slid about 30m to 40m before its nose wrapped around a fence hanging over a stream.

The pair walked away uninjured and their aircraft received moderate damage to its propeller.

After the crash Mr Wilde told the Daily Post that he went straight back to work in his plane after the crash landing. "As soon as we got back to the top I carried on working. There's no point standing around doing nothing," he said at the time.

Yesterday Mr Langman, who now lives in Taupo, said those comments were typical of Mr Wilde who "just liked to get on with the job".

"He was a hell of a nice guy," Mr Langman said. "He was a very capable pilot and a good family man. It's terribly sad what's happened."

He said Mr Wilde was well trained and was well aware of the risks associated with flying. But he stressed topdressing was no more dangerous than driving.

He said it was important for an investigation to be undertaken so the industry could learn from the accident. "Until that investigation happens we don't know if there were mechanical or structural problems ... They're always things that happen that are completely out of your control."

He did his flight training in Taupo from 1995 to 1997 and flew privately for several years. He started with Super Air as a loader driver in 2000 while completing his commercial pilot's licence. He was based in Rotorua then was transferred to Whakatane in August 2003. On his days off he enjoyed fishing with his three boys as well as deer hunting.