A re-enactment of the screwdriver's positioning before the crash.
A loose screwdriver that became jammed in the side of a plane as it was doing aerobatics over Feilding caused a crash that killed a Palmerston North doctor and his friend.
The report, written by safety investigator Alan Moselen, found the crash was the result of design flaws in the plane that led to a screwdriver getting stuck in the elevator controls of the plane during a "slow roll" manoeuvre.
As Saxe, a member of Warbirds, entered a steep dive immediately following the slow roll he was unable to get the elevation needed to prevent the plane from slamming into the ground in Timona Park, Feilding.
The forces were so strong that the aircraft nose, engine and wings "created deep ground scars then virtually disintegrated".
The crash was not survivable.
Three witnesses to the crash were flying model aircraft at the park when the aircraft passed within 50 metres of them, moments before ground impact.
The plane rolled to the right in the moments before impact, and the report states this was probably a result of Saxe trying to "avoid a line of houses situated on the western side of the park".
In investigating the crash the CAA found a "stubby" type screwdriver 15 metres from the main impact site, which the report says could have been sitting in the fuselage of the plane for a long period of time.
It is not the first time rogue objects have become jammed in Yak 52 aircraft elevator controls.
In Essex in 2004 a UK pilot managed to recover from a aerobatic manoevre after a cellphone left in the aircraft two months earlier had penetrated a safety barrier and lodged itself in the elevator.
Saxe's Yak 52 did not have a safety barrier installed.
In March 2012, as a result of the crash, the CAA issued a mandate for Yak 52 owners to fit a barrier.
They also called on all Yak 52 operators worldwide to check for loose objects in the fuselage before flying.
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Dr Ralph Saxe.
Two people are dead after a small plane crashed near Feilding this morning, police have confirmed.
Next of kin started arriving at the scene shortly before 1pm. Police would not be releasing the names of the deceased at this stage but said they were two ''relatively well-known Manawatu men".
Inspector Mark Harrison said the plane crashed at Timona Park, off East St in residential Feilding, around 10.45am. The plane had taken off from the nearby Taonui Aerodrome.
Harrison said he was at home, about 1km away, when he heard the plane crash.
Police were called to Timona Park after a number of witnesses reported seeing the plane go down.
Sandra Elliott, whose house is next to Timona Park, said the plane flew right over their washing line.
She could see smoke coming out of the back of it. They heard the bang when it crashed moments later. They were thankful the pilot had managed to steer the plane away from the neighbouring houses.
Her sons then went to see what had happened.
The area had been cordoned off so that a thorough scene examination could be conducted by the Civil Aviation Authority and police.
The CAA confirmed the plane was a Yak, which could carry up to two people.
CAA safety investigators Al Moselen and Steve Walker were travelling to the scene from Auckland and were expected to arrive later this afternoon.
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At least one person is dead after a plane crash in a park near Feilding town centre this morning.
Emergency services were called after witnesses reported a small plane going down in Timona Park to the east of the town centre at 10:46am.
Police said they found no sign of survivors in the extensively damaged wreckage of a small plane.
Inspector Paul Jeremy said there was at least one person dead in the crash - though police were still investigating whether a second person had died.
A Fire Service spokesman said the crashed plane was a single-seater "aerobatic" model.
He said officers would remain at the scene to help extricate the body from the wreckage.
Emergency services were called after a number of witnesses reported seeing the small plane crash.
Police at the scene had confirmed a small plane has been extensively damaged but said it was not yet known how many people were on board.
The area had been cordoned off so the Civil Aviation Authority and police could investigate.
Police said the aircraft was an Aerostar Yak 52TW.
Per Madie, who lives on a road bordering the park, said he heard a loud explosion.
"I heard it, and I thought it was a gas container that had blown up. It was just one sound.''
After a phone call from his neighbour, he headed out to the park to see the wreck of the aircraft partially buried in the ground.
"It's just a heap of wrangled metal. Most of it is underground. If one can imagine it's coming full force into the ground, then the front of it is buried.''
The wreck crashed dead centre in the middle of Timona Park, he said.
Mr Madie said an explosive fire had burnt out the entire plane, leaving it a blackened shell. Any marking or details on the plane were burnt off in the blaze, he said.
"It's all burnt. It blew up on impact. It's just black, mangled metal. There's nothing left whatsoever, you wouldn't think it was an aircraft.
"It looks as if it was one big explosion when it hit the ground, and that's the end of it.''
Feilding was also the site of a fatal collision between two Cessnas flown by students on July 26, 2010.
Flying student Patricia Smallman, 64, and flight instructor Jess Neeson, 27, were killed in the accident while a 21-year-old international student at the controls of a second plane managed to land safely at Feilding Aerodrome despite a dead engine and a missing wheel.
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