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A Securite Civile rescue helicopter takes off for the
site where a Air New Zealand airbus A320 plane crashed offshore
Canet-en-Roussillon in Perpignan, southern France. (Xinhua/AFP
Photo)
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WELLINGTON, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) --
Air New Zealand released the names of three of its four staff presumed to have
died when an Airbus A320 crashed into the Mediterranean off France on Friday.
They were Captain Brian Horrell, 52, from Auckland;
Murray White, 37, an engineer from Auckland; and Michael Gyles, 49, an engineer
from Christchurch.
The airline said the name of the fourth presumed
fatality would be released once all next of kin were notified.
The fifth New Zealander presumed to have died was a
Civil Aviation Authority inspector, whose name has not been released.
Two others on board were pilots from XL Airways, the German firm which leased the
aircraft from Air New Zealand for the past two years.
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Staff members of the rescue team discuss
the rescue operation in Perpignan, southern France, Nov. 27, 2008.
Air New Zealand released the names of three of its four staff presumed to
have died when an Airbus A320 crashed into the Mediterranean off France on
Friday.(Xinhua/AFP
Photo)
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Air New Zealand staff were on board as observers
during a pre-acceptance flight before the Airbus A320 was returned.
Chief executive officer Rob Fyfe said he had now
spoken to the partners of each of the missing men.
A senior investigator from the Transport Accident
Investigation Commission (TAIC) is joining the official French-led investigation
into the crash.
A surveillance plane, two rescue helicopters and five
coastguard vessels scoured the seas around the crash site about 6 km from the
shore.
About 20 specialist frogmen were taking part in the
operation.
The French navy sent ships to the zone in a bid to
find the wreckage and find the black box flight recorders.
The jet had been undergoing servicing at EAS
Industries in Perpignan and flying circuits for 90 minutes before it crashed, an
emergency services spokesman said.
Six French aviation accident investigators and two
from Germany were being sent to help an inquiry with experts from the French
civil aviation authority (DGAC) and Airbus.
The Airbus was to be flown to Frankfurt, where it was
due to be handed back for a ferry flight back to New Zealand. It was due back in
New Zealand this week.
The CAA certification engineer was on the trip as
part of the process by which aircraft are handed over from the European
operator.
The aircraft, wearing Air New Zealand livery, took
off from Perpignan about 5:30 a.m. New Zealand time.
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key on Friday
expressed his condolences to those who lost loved ones in the plane crash off
the coast of France and said the Government will do all it can do to assist.
Key said he had heard with enormous sadness that a
leased Air NZ aircraft crashed in the Mediterranean overnight with five New
Zealanders on board.
"On behalf of all New Zealanders I would like to
express my sincere condolences to the friends, families and colleagues of the
five New Zealanders now feared dead in the crash," Key said.
"The New Zealand Government is prepared to offer any
and all assistance required in the immediate aftermath of this tragedy."
Key said two officials from the New Zealand embassy
in Paris would leave shortly for the crash area to provide assistance as
required.
Air New Zealand Airbus crashes off
Mediterranean Sea, 7 killed
WELLINGTON, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- An Air New Zealand Airbus A320 plane on a test
flight crashed off the southeastern coast of France, causing seven people on
board to be killed.
The Airbus crashed into the Mediterranean Sea near the
town of Perpignan as it came into land at about 5:00 a.m. New Zealand local time
Friday (1600 GMT Thursday), killing all seven on board, Radio New Zealand
reported. Full story
