Athlete and policeman Phil Stubbs was in his element on Sunday, joining Karekare Beach surf patrols and doing a training swim before he died while taking off from the beach in a light aircraft. Details of Mr Stubbs' last hours emerged yesterday as crash investigators pieced together what went wrong when the single-engined Piper Cub he was flying plunged into the sand about 6.30 pm. Civil Aviation Authority air-worthiness and flight operations specialists are inspecting the wreckage and interviewing all witnesses.

Mr Stubbs' American brother-in-law, Mark Gusse, who was seated behind him in the plane, suffered serious facial injuries on impact and was last night undergoing surgery to save his eyesight. Mr Gusse is married to Mr Stubbs' sister Rachel, and the couple are holidaying in Auckland from their United States base. Mr Stubbs, an experienced pilot and Papakura police sergeant, took off from Ardmore Airport during the afternoon and landed at Karekare Beach about 3 pm. A senior member of the surf club, Karel Witten-Hannah, said it was not often that planes landed on the beach but there were no regulations against it.

Mr Stubbs, a New Zealand surfboat racing champion, had joined the surf patrol and later took part in a training swim, generally having an enjoyable afternoon. Mr Witten-Hannah said it appeared Mr Stubbs commented to someone before he took off that something was wrong with the plane's rudder. Witnesses said the plane took off normally, then started to turn right before nose-diving into the beach, its single engine screaming. The president of the syndicate owning the classic 1950s plane, Vern Sharplin, said the $65,000 aircraft was maintained to a very high standard as a matter of pride.