Retiree Alan Macdonald has got airborne – in the passenger seat – since the light plane he was learning to fly in nose-dived into a farm paddock near Glentui, north-west of Rangiora on May 28.
“I’ve been up again to have a look around,” said Macdonald, who is recovering from a smashed wrist, cuts, bruises and whiplash.
“I still have a bit of physio from time to time but I’m coming right.”
Macdonald sought an aerial view of the family farm at Sheffield following floods and storm damage early last month and was pleased to report the property was unscathed.
“We also flew over High Peak Station into the Rakaia Gorge, that general area,” he said.
“I felt good, I was happy enough. We obviously weren’t doing simulations, it was a scenic flight.”
Macdonald crashed when flying with the Canterbury Recreational Aircraft Club’s chief instructor Stewart Bufton, who also avoided serious injury.
They were practising engine failure protocols when the plane clipped power lines and nose-dived, at low speed into the paddock.
The Civil Aviation Authority of New Zealand is investigating the incident.
“You have to get back on the horse again. I am not going to let it (the crash) beat me,” he said.
“It is a lovely view up there. On a fine day, it is serene. You get a view of the countryside from another perspective.”
