A skydiver who was in the air while White Island erupted could see the plume from 88 kilometres away.
A three and a half kilometre cloud of ash erupted from the volcano and triggered a level four volcano alert.
Skydive Tauranga's Director Tristan Web told Heather Du Plessis-Allan they jump out of the plane over Tauranga airport.
He says he could see what he thought was a normal amount of smoke as he jumped, but within 30 seconds it had grown significantly.
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