Dramatic rescue after paraglider crashes into Te Mata Peak, Hawke's Bay

A dramatic rescue has unfolded in Hawke’s Bay after a paraglider crashed into Te Mata Peak on Tuesday afternoon.

It’s believe he crashed after attempting takeoff.

Paramedics were winched down to the glider from a rescue helicopter. The paraglider is understood to have suffered head injuries but was remarkably able to walk.

A friend of the man told 1News it was "definitely not something that we planned on".

"It was just going to be a nice little afternoon flight down here and then we were going to go home and do what we do - that's it."

He found out his friend was injured during takeoff from another friend.

"He said he spun around and hit the hill right after launch so it was pretty light wind and it sounds like he just had a little collapse right after."  

A man told 1News he was looking out at Te Mata Peak with a glass of wine when he witnessed the crash.

"I saw a chap leap off the top and all of a sudden, the kite collapsed and he hit the rocks 300 metres down and then he bounced down further and he landed on a ledge," he said. 

"By then, I was starting to think, 'My goodness, this looks disastrous' ... Course, it turned into a rescue but amazingly, he stood up and seems OK."