Witnesses to a light-plane crash at Arrowtown tried to free the victims from the wreckage.
One person is dead after the plane crashed at an Arrowtown golf course yesterday afternoon.
Ian Douglas Sloan, 59, of Tauranga, died after the Cessna nosedived into the course, with the tail of the plane breaking in half upon impact.
The plane, which was registered to Sloan, had left from Invercargill and crashed between the 5th and 8th hole of the Arrowtown golf course on Centennial Ave.
Detective Sergeant Brian Cameron says the plane, with three people on board, came down several hundred metres away from a private airstrip.
A man and a woman have been taken to Lakes District Hospital in a serious condition. The two survivors were in a stable condition last night.
Cameron told The Southland Times the first people at the scene did everything they could to help.
"What they did was all they could do in the circumstances, so I think all we can do is praise their efforts," Mr Cameron said.
Cameron could not say what the cause of the crash was and said that would be determined by the Civil Aviation Authority.
Mark Shepherd, an assistant manager at the course, said members on the course heard the crash and took a cart to the scene. He said they called emergency services which arrived quickly.
Shepherd told ONE News club members described the plane as "all torn up, with a wing off and the front shredded up".
From the club house, which is some distance form the crash site, Shepherd said he couldn't see any smoke. But he said he fears it is quite serious because the crash was heard right around the course.
A local resident said it looks as if the aircraft has hit the ground very hard.
Eyewitnesses said it appears the plane may have slammed into a hillside on the golf course.
Wreckage is spread over some distance.
There was some rain and a breeze about at the time of the crash.
A crash investigation team will be at the scene this morning.
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