Tauranga police have named 56 year old Jeffery Arthur Bryant of Piopio as the man who died in the microlight crash at Tauranga Airport on Monday at about 8.30am.
Inspector Karl Wright St Clair says Jeffery's microlight crashed shortly after take off.

Left: CAA investigator Alan Daley examines the wreckage. Right: Victim Jeffery Arthur Bryant.

He says it was seen by witnesses to spiral downwards out of control before crashing near the eastern end of the runway.
"Victim support has been provided to witnesses, some of whom were upset after having witnessed the accident," says Karl.

Jeffrey was a student pilot flying his own microlight aircraft, a South African built Solo Wings Windlass Aquilla two seater.
The rotax powered aircraft are imported by Solo Wings Tauranga where they are assembled and Civil Aviation Authority certificated.
Microlight pilots normally have 8-15 hours dual flying experience with an instructor before flying solo. Jeffery had between 25-30 total flying hours experience.

The CAA is continuing with their investigation to discover the cause of the accident.
CAA air safety investigator Alan Daley says they will be concentrating on the Aquilla two seater trike on the first day of the investigation, before moving to the witness statements provided to police.
"We will be dismantling the machine, then it will be going to a secure facility where we will go through each component of the aircraft," says Alan.
For this investigation the investigators are only able to investigate the machine and the environment in which he was operating when the accident occurred, says Alan.
They will be concentrating on the microlight and the operating environment, which on Monday morning was clear with a light westerly breeze.