Police are appealing for witnesses to the gyrocopter crash in South Taranaki that killed Neville Adlam and Stephen Chubb.

Their craft crashed into a paddock about 500 metres from SH3 on Ohangai Rd just after 1.30pm yesterday.

Mr Chubb, 51, was an instructor giving a lesson to Mr Adlam, 70.

The pair had taken off and landed at a nearby aero-club on a number of occasions during the afternoon, before the crash.

A Civil Aviation Authority team is still at the scene and will remove the wreckage later today for further investigation, to help determine the cause of the crash.