A young male passenger died after being thrown from a car that rolled south of Takapau in Hawke's Bay about 7pm tonight.
A spokeswoman for the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter said the vehicle rolled after the driver tried to over-correct the steering.
A 14-year-old male with moderate injuries, believed to be the driver, was airlifted to Hawkes Bay Hospital.
A woman passenger received minor injuries.
There were conflicting reports about the number of people in the car.
The helicopter spokeswoman said there were three, but a resident of the close-knit family community said there were four.
All were believed to be of similar age.
The resident said the incident happened on a bridge locals knew not to "hit too fast''.
She said the incident had left the area in shock and the dead passenger was the son of a wealthy family.
The community was "caring'' and dominated by the local meatworks which employed 1200 people.
