The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has ruled out engine failure as the cause of Monday’s crash of a light aircraft on a training flight with an instructor and student pilot on board.
Gary Skedgwell, the 30-year-old instructor, and Sam Metzger, the 18-year-old student training for his commercial pilot’s licence are both in hospital recovering from injuries caused when their dual-controlled Piper Tomahawk crashed in the Ruahine Ranges north of Palmerston North.
CAA has told 3 News that radar tracking of the Tomahawk showed that it was engaged in low flying at the time of the crash, and a witness being interviewed by CAA had confirmed that.
3 News