Veteran TV reporter Rod Vaughan says a drone probably caused the windscreen to shatter in a light plane he was flying, forcing him to make a crash landing near Waihi yesterday.
Vaughan told the Bay of Plenty Times he was taking his son on a flight over the Western Bay yesterday afternoon when the windscreen of the plane "exploded", and a rush of air went through the cockpit.
With his headset blown off, and the plane's side and back windows also smashed, the only option was to get down as soon as possible, he said.
The Hauraki Aviation Club plane landed hard in a field, breaking the nose wheel, and tipped over.
Vaughan. who had a large gash in his head, and his his son who had several bad contusions, were taken Tauranga Hospital.
Vaughan said the most probable explanation for the shattered windscreen was a drone. There had been a lot of drone activity in the area and tighter rules on the use of drones were needed, he said.
The Civil Aviation Authority would not comment on the possibility of a drone being involved and police said the investigation was being run by the CAA.
Rod Vaughan famously received a broken nose when he was smacked in the face by Bob Jones for interrupting the then-politician's trout fishing near Turangi with a helicopter flight in 1985.
Earlier this week Air New Zealand called for tighter law around the illegal operation of drones after a near miss with a flight from Tokyo last Sunday.
Pilots estimate the drone to be just five metres away from the 777-200 aircraft during its descent into Auckland.
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