Two people are dead after a light plane crashed on farmland about four kilometres south of Te Kopuru just after midday.

Witnesses reported seeing debris fly off the northward-bound plane about a kilometre before it plunged into a paddock alongside the Northern Wairoa River.

Police said two people were dead after a plane crashed at Te Kopuru in Kaipara District.

Emergency services were called to the scene shortly after 12.15pm.

The scene was being examined by the Serious Crash Unit and the crash would be referred to the Civil Aviation Authority and the coroner. </s> The Civil Aviation Authority is launching an investigation into the plane crash in Northland this afternoon in which two people died.

The plane crashed on a dairy farm at Pouto near Dargaville shortly after 12.15pm.

Police say the scene is being examined by the Serious Crash Unit and the crash will be referred to the Civil Aviation Authority and the Coroner.

The Civil Aviation Authority says the aircraft type was a Vans RV 7. It was carrying the pilot and one passenger at the time of the crash.

The CAA is deploying two safety investigators from Wellington to commence the investigation.

At this stage it is too early to say what may have caused the accident, said spokesman Mike Richards.

The CAA investigators will arrive tomorrow and will first meet with police and speak with emergency services who attended the accident, Mr Richards said.

The safety investigators will review any photographs taken at the scene at Te Kopuru in Kaipara District and will also arrange to talk to any witnesses, he said.

"Once the site is handed over from Police the investigators will move to the initial phase of the physical investigation, which will be undertaken at the crash site. The crash site will be secured overnight," Mr Richards said.

That's what we saw spiralling out of the sky was the wing - Crash witness

The CAA won’t have any further updates until after the Investigator in Charge has completed a site visit, likely to be Tuesday afternoon, he said.

A witness has told 1 NEWS she arrived at the scene to see the light plane nosedived into a paddock.

The woman said, according to the fire brigade the wreckage is scattered over about a 500 metre radius and she saw parts of the plane across the road, "which we surmise had fallen off before it crashed".

"That's what we saw spiralling out of the sky was the wing. That''s the first thing we saw." </s> The identity of the the pilot killed in a plane crash in Northland yesterday has been confirmed.

Dean Voelkerling died in the crash on a dairy farm at Pouto near Dargaville, shortly after 12.15pm.

Mr Voelkerling was a rescue helicopter pilot. He was operations manager at Northland's Emergency Services Trust.

He was flying his homemade kit set plane when it crashed.

Mr Voelkerling and another person - whose identity is yet to be confirmed, died in the crash.

The Civil Aviation Authority are investigating and the deaths have been referred to the Coroner. </s> The Civil Aviation Authority is grounding all 21 Gippsland GA8 Airvan aircraft in New Zealand after a crash in Sweden which killed 9 people last week.

Aviation New Zealand Chief Executive John Nicholson said three flight companies currently operated the aircraft including Salt Air, which operates in Auckland and Northland, Air Safari, which operates at Mt Cook and Southern Alps Air.

The aircraft generally seats eight passengers and a pilot, with many used in the South Island around the Milford Sounds and Queenstown.

Director of Civil Aviation Graeme Harris said the grounding was not a decision made lightly.

“I have sufficient concerns about the safety of these aircraft to make it necessary for me to ground them until more is known about the cause of the 14 July crash in Sweden that killed all 9 people on board a GA8 Airvan,” he said in a statement.

“We do not take these steps lightly but when there is a reasonable doubt about the safety of an aircraft, the flying public, operators and pilots of the affected aircraft in New Zealand must be satisfied that the CAA will act with their safety as a priority.”

“Whilst I regret any inconvenience this grounding will cause and acknowledge its significant commercial impact, I simply cannot compromise when I have information that indicates any unacceptable risk.”

A technical specialist from Australia is off to Sweden to help with the investigation into the crash. </s> WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Seven people were killed and another person was missing in a boating accident near Auckland, New Zealand, on Saturday, police said.

Inspector Duncan Hall said the chartered fishing boat Francie was carrying 11 people when it got into trouble in Kaipara Harbour near Auckland. He said rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to a local hospital.

He said rescuers also recovered five bodies from the water soon after the accident. Another two bodies washed ashore at nearby beaches and were found early Sunday.

Hall said in a statement that the fishing boat was reported as overdue to emergency services at 3:30 p.m. Police were still trying to establish what happened to the boat and how its occupants ended up in the water. Hall said conditions on Saturday were poor, with large sea swells.

An air search for the missing person was suspended overnight and resumed on Sunday in the harbor, which is about 75 kilometers (47 miles) northwest of Auckland.

Eyewitnesses told Television New Zealand that rescuers in helicopters plucked the survivors from the water and placed them on a beach, where locals kept them warm until ambulances arrived.

The TV station reported that the accident happened at the entrance to the harbor, an area which is notorious for producing treacherous conditions for boats.

The Facebook page for Francie Charters says its boat Francie is licensed to carry up to 20 people with two crew members. It shows customers using lines to catch snapper and other fish, and encountering dolphins. </s> Five people are dead and three others are missing after a boating accident in New Zealand, police said.

Inspector Duncan Hall said a boat carrying 11 people got into trouble in Kaipara Harbour near Auckland on Saturday.

He said rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to hospital. He said rescuers also recovered five bodies.

Mr Hall said in a statement that the boat had been reported as overdue to emergency services. Police were still trying to establish what happened to the boat and how its occupants ended up in the water. He said conditions on Saturday were poor, with large sea swells.

He said teams had ended an aerial search for the missing people and would resume searching again early Sunday.

Television New Zealand reported the vessel was a chartered fishing boat and that rescuers had arrived in helicopters, plucking the survivors from the water and placing them on a beach, where locals kept them warm while waiting for ambulances. </s> WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Five people are dead and three others missing after a boating accident in New Zealand, according to police.

Inspector Duncan Hall said that a boat carrying 11 people got into trouble on Saturday in Kaipara Harbour near Auckland. He said rescuers managed to pull three survivors from the water, who were taken to a hospital. He said rescuers also recovered five bodies.

Hall said in a statement the boat was reported as overdue to emergency services at 3:30 p.m. Police were still trying to establish what happened to the boat and how its occupants ended up in the water.

Hall said teams had ended an aerial search for the night and would start again early Sunday.

The New Zealand Herald newspaper reported the vessel was a chartered fishing boat. </s> Twenty-one New Zealand planes - which are used globally for skydiving and scenic flights - have been banned from flying out of fear they may not be safe.

Today Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) director Graeme Harris suspended the airworthiness certificates of all 21 Gippsland GA8 Airvan aircraft currently operating in New Zealand saying he had "sufficient concerns about the safety of these aircraft".

It's a direct response to the crash that killed nine people when a GA8 Airvan plane carrying them for a parachute jump crashed in northern Sweden soon after taking off.

Harris told the Herald until more was known about the cause of the Sweden crash the suspension would remain in place.

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"We do not take these steps lightly but when there is a reasonable doubt about the safety of an aircraft, the flying public, operators and pilots of the affected aircraft in New Zealand must be satisfied that the CAA will act with their safety as a priority.

"While I regret any inconvenience this grounding will cause and acknowledge its significant commercial impact; I simply cannot compromise when I have information that indicates any unacceptable risk," he said.

Harris said he had been in contact with his Australian counterpart at CASA (Civil Aviation Safety Authority) as the GA8 was Australian manufactured and they were the designated state of design and manufacture.

"I understand that CASA has sent a technical specialist to Sweden to gain first hand insight into the progress of the crash investigation.

"Based on information coming out of the initial investigation into the crash it appears the aeroplane, at 4000 meters altitude, suffered structural failure, but, at this time, the root cause of the accident cannot be confirmed," Harris said.

The grounding of the New Zealand planes is effective immediately and will be reviewed as further information becomes available from Sweden and Australia. </s> A coroner says two people died after two planes collided at a northeastern Indiana airport.

Grant County Coroner Chris Butche has identified the victims as the pilot, 31-year-old Kyle Hibst, and passenger, 31-year-old David Wittkamper, both of Elwood. They were members of the Pipe Creek Township Volunteer Fire Department.

Butche tells WTHR-TV a Cessna 150 carrying Hibst and Wittkamper took off from Marion Municipal Airport on Monday and clipped a larger Cessna 525 Citation Jet that was landing. He says the smaller plane crashed and caught fire.

READ MORE: 1 dead, 1 injured after planes collide over Montreal south shore shopping mall

Butche says the five people on the larger plane weren’t injured.

In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration says it will investigate the incident. The National Transportation Safety Board has been notified, and will be in charge of the investigation.
Two people are killed in a plane crash in Northland, New Zealand.