The pilot of the gyrocopter that crash landed in Tauranga Harbour yesterday would go flying again today - if he could.

David Church, 64, and his 65-year-old friend managed to walk away from the wreckage after the gyrocopter lost power and plunged 500feet into shallow waters off the end of a Tauranga Airport runway.

Left: The gyrocopter submerged in the Tauranga Harbour on Wednesday. Right: The gyrocopter in the hanger today.

David says he was aware of a problem on board shortly after take-off, and was attempting to return to the nearby airport when he was forced to make an emergency landing.

'I made a little misjudgement I suppose, a number of circumstances came into it without getting too technical,” says David.

'The best thing that ever happened was I recognised that I had an issue, and I controlled the aircraft and landed it as well as I possibly could, and I think that's what saved our lives.”

Both men survived the landing unscathed and were able to wade the 200 metres to shore where they were greeted by arriving emergency services at about 1.30pm on Wednesday.

Firefighters from Tauranga and Mount Maunganui were called to the airport, along with an airport crash crew and St John Ambulance from Te Puke.

A 65-year-old man from Gate Pa was taken to Tauranga Hospital as a precaution.

The light aircraft wreckage is still being assessed for possible repairs after the remains were fished out of Waipu Bay near Te Ngaiopapapa Point by helicopter on Wednesday.

David says he has undertaken a forced landing in training, but that was the first real emergency in the 250 hours he's spent flying his gyrocopter in the last three years.

'The experience served me well,” says David.

'You could say I was excited because I did it properly. That's the main thing in the end - if you survive an air crash that's the main thing isn't it.”

The aircraft is probably salvageable, says David, it just depends whether he's prepared to fix it or not.

The main rotor snapped off, as it was designed to, protecting the pilot and passenger.

David says the passenger shell and engine have been washed down with fresh water.

'It hasn't put me off flying at all - you get back on the horse. I would go up now and have a fly.”

The wreckage is being inspected at Solo Wings, at Tauranga Airport.

Engineer and director Colin Alexander says David Church did and exceptionally good job carrying out the forced landing, with most of the damaged suffered when the aircraft was lifted from the harbour by helicopter.

The main rotor is damaged, and there are some minor fibreglass repairs required on the fuselage. The engine is fine.

It is the second gyrocopter crash in Tauranga this year.

At about 4pm on June 17 a gyrocopter plunged into the sea on the harbour side of Matakana Island.

The two men on board escaped the wreckage and swam to the surface before being taken to Sulphur Point Marina aboard an inflatable boat.

Both were uninjured.

Read more about the wreckage of that crash here.

The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating.

The rotor blade was damaged in the crash.

The rotor.

The interior of the gyrocopter was wet but not damaged and has been taken apart for inspection.

Damaged caused by the recovery.