The pilot, with a passenger aboard, was making a cross country flight from Takaka in his microlight aircraft. The aircraft was observed to encounter turbulence, due to the prevailing wind conditions, as it flew in the lee of a ridge some 350 feet amsl. The right wing dropped, the nose pitched downwards, and the aircraft continued in a steep spiral to the ground. The passenger was fatally injured and the pilot received serious injuries in the accident.
