Police look for crash witnesses

The NZ Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association believe the pilot who died in a glider crash at an Auckland beach on Thursday was a student.

Chief executive Evan Lamberton said: ‘‘I do believe it was a [ hang glide] student, Karioitahi Beach is one of our main training sites.’’ Police are seeking witnesses. They have not formally identified the male pilot, and are asking anyone who was at Karioitahi Beach at around 4pm on Thursday to contact Sergeant Graeme Wood at Waiuku Police on 09 236 5020.

The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand is also investigating the accident.

Lamberton said: ‘‘It’s just the start of what’s going to be a lengthy investigation.

‘‘We are working with CAA on the investigation - that will be reported back to the police and eventually the Coroner’s Court.

‘‘From our association’s point of view, we investigate all these serious accidents to see if there’s safety issues we can improve on.’’

The pilot died after the aircraft crashed on the west coast beach, near Waiuku, late Thursday afternoon.

Police on the scene said it appeared the hang glider suffered a ‘‘catastrophic failure’’ which caused the glider to fall to the ground. The man died on impact. ‘‘The hang glider hit the ground with a very big bang and then it was a case of running and calling the rescue services,’’ a witness on the scene said.