A man who walked away from a light plane crash yesterday has been discharged from hospital.
Alan Warner (58) suffered moderate back injuries when his Zenith Zodiac CH 601-XL aircraft crashed near Whangamomona on Sunday.
He and his wife Anne (55) were reported missing after the single engine plane failed to reach Stratford Aerodrome, after taking off from Whitianga on Sunday afternoon.
They were found in dense bush by the wreckage of the upturned plane late yesterday morning.
The couple were flown to Taranaki Base Hospital with moderate injuries.
Mr Warner was discharged last night, while Mrs Warner remains in hospital in a stable condition. She sustained chest injuries in the crash.
Yesterday, the couple's eldest son Adam (26) said the family was ecstatic they were safe.
The couple, from Waitara, northeast of New Plymouth, had managed to put the small aircraft down in thick bush after hitting bad weather on Sunday evening.
Adam Warner told media yesterday afternoon that he was relieved but somehow unsurprised his parents survived largely intact.
"He's pretty tough, a hard sort of guy," he said of his father.
"He's an adventurous sort of man."
His parents were understandably "a bit shook up".
- Patrice Dougan of NZME News Service and NewstalkZB
