Horrified friend could not save trapped pilot

Horrified friends say they could do nothing to get a pilot lout of his burning plane moments after he crashed as he took off last week.

Stacey Hopper, 27, died when his Cessna aircraft was apparently hit by a wind gust, causing it to hit a vehicle and crash as it took off at One Tree Point, south of Whangarei on Friday.

Close friend Simon Kirkpatrick had dropped Mr Hopper at a temporary airstrip moments before he took off, the New Zealand Herald reported today.

As it became airborne it was hit by a wind gust and clipped the Volkswagen van he was driving. Inside the van were his nine-year-old son Jonathon and Stacey Hopper's young brother Gray.

The plane cartwheeled, crashed and burst into flames, trapping and killing Mr Hopper.

"We couldn't get Stacey out. It was very traumatic," said Mr Kirkpatrick, a construction manager for the family company, Hopper Developments.

He said his friend would be sorely missed and he and his family were devastated.

The dead pilot's grandfather Ian Hopper said he was a capable pilot.

His funeral will be held at the North Shore Aero Club on Wednesday.

- NZPA