A King Country pilot killed when his microlight plane crashed at Tauranga Airport had been incapacitated by a cardiac event, a coroner has found.
Jeffrey Arthur Bryant, 56, a self-employed rural agricultural contractor from Piopio, died from his injuries on September 27, 2010 about 8.40am.
His plane had been seen spiraling downwards, out of control, before crashing near the eastern end of the runway.
Coroner Tim Scott, who today released his findings into the Bryant's death, said the crash occurred because the pilot suffered an incapacitating medical event, probably cardiac.
"Although the cardiologist did not consider there was strong evidence of a cardiac cause, he concluded there was some evidence and frankly nothing else fits the scenario," he said.
"I do not conclude however that Jeff's death can be attributed to that medical event. Rather that the medical event disabled him."
Bryant bought his four-year-old microlight plane in 2005 to fulfil his lifelong dream of becoming a pilot.
He was parking the plane at Tauranga Airport, but had plans to eventually move it to Piopio.
Bryant had flown solo often and was looking forward to completing his hours and getting his licence.
On the day of the crash, he was flying alone, but under instruction, when he began touch-and-go landings on a runway.
Touch-and-go is a manoeuvre where a pilot applies power shortly after landing so that the plane takes off again.
When he was finishing his second landing, the plane began climbing at a steep angle and then began a steep left-hand descending turn.
It recovered briefly from the descent and began to climb again but then went into another steep left descending turn from which it did not recover. The plane struck the ground.
The Civil Aviation Authority concluded that weather was not a factor in the crash, Bryant was qualified to fly and there was no evidence of aircraft failure.
Bryant's wife, Gwenda, told the inquest that her husband had suffered from pain and discomfort in his upper chest area from time to time.
He believed he was feeling heart burn symptoms. It appeared he went to the doctor, but there was no recorded medical history relating to it.
His autopsy revealed evidence of a mild cardiac condition, which cardiologist Peter Leslie said could lead to a cardiac arrhythmia.
"Without there being any strong evidence, a possible cause of the crash could have been a fatal cardiac cause or a disabling arrhythmia," Scott said.
Witness Peter Rutledge, himself a pilot, believed the aircraft moved as if under full power without any control inputs from the pilot.
"That is what I think happened," Scott said.
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