Flying student Patricia Smallman, 64, and flight instructor Jess Neeson, 27, were killed in a collision between two Cessnas near Feilding Aerodrome, 6km southeast of the town, about 3.30pm Monday.
The 21-year-old international student at the controls of the second plane managed to land safely at nearby Taonui Airfield, despite a dead engine and a missing wheel.
The other plane crashed into a paddock on Durie Rd.
Flight Training Manawatu has suspended operations as Transport Accident Investigation Commission officials launch an investigation into the crash.
The school's chief executive, Michael Bryant, praised the student's "basic instinct" in landing the plane.
"I have great admiration for the skill he called on to bring the aircraft down," he told the New Zealand Herald.
Laurence Barnett, who owns Bay Flight Centre in Tauranga where Ms Neeson had trained, also praised the student.
"The international student did an exceptional job getting the aircraft back on the ground with no engine and a wheel knocked off."
He said Ms Neeson was "such a friendly girl" who had done exceptionally well to reach chief flight instructor level.
She had flown with the Manawatu company for about five years.
Air accident investigator Ian McClelland told media yesterday it was too early to know what caused the crash.
"Our job at this stage is to gather as much evidence as possible," Mr McClelland said.
The focus yesterday was on extracting the victims' bodies, and investigators would now carry out a site survey, including looking at ground marks at the site, and interview at least five witnesses.
After the plane was removed from the site, investigators would look at the control positions, the engine and propellers, and the overall condition of the aircraft.
Mrs Smallman was about halfway through completing her private pilot's licence, and the sole survivor of the collision had almost completed his commercial pilot's licence.
The crash comes just two weeks after another plane crash in the Manawatu which left an instructor and student seriously injured.
