Two a penny

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Serial disqualified-driver back in court

Friday, 16 January 2009

A motorist who was banned indefinitely from getting behind the wheel 14 years ago appeared in Tauranga District Court today on his 11th charge of driving while disqualified.
"What is the problem with you getting a driver's licence?" Judge Christopher Harding asked Eugene Thomas, 46, of Papamoa.
"Nothing really, your honour," Thomas replied. Police seized his vehicle.
He had been stopped at Mt Maunganui last October 25 for speeding.
Judge Harding said: "You know what happens: You come back (to court) and you get disqualified for another year.
Thomas told the judge he had "done the drug tests" needed before he could apply to re-sit his licence, but added that the process for gaining a current licence costs money.
"All I am able to do is disqualify you again for 12 months – and that is all I will do. ."
He urged Thomas to do something about it."

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Thomas said: "Aw, that's not nice

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Lakes overflow but power bill relief ruled out

– Thursday, 08 January 2009

Power-price cuts are being ruled out despite generators spilling vast amounts of water from over-full South Island hydro lakes.
The glut of water was highlighted yesterday by the first spill at the Benmore power station on the Waitaki River in nearly five years.
Continuing spills from Lake Tekapo and Lake Pukaki further up Meridian Energy's Waitaki River hydro scheme have fed downstream into Lake Benmore, lifting it above its maximum operating level and forcing a massive release of water yesterday afternoon.
Household power prices are predicted to almost double this decade and are already two-thirds higher than in 2000.
The state-owned power company last spilled at Benmore, the biggest station on the Waitaki chain, in March 2004.26c a kilowatt hour (kWh) (including GST) in 2000, to 21.
Average residential power prices have risen 66 per cent in the past eight years from 13.97c a kWh last year.
South Island hydro lakes are brimming over after weeks of heavy north-westerly rain, just four months after low lake levels raised fears of spring power shortages.
Politicians were fired up about electricity prices late last year, demanding answers after Contact Energy increased prices by more than 10 percentin some regions.
As a result, wholesale, or spot prices have tumbled to the point where the water is effectively worthless. With more north-west rain on the way and low demand for power as a result of summer holidays, spilling is likely to continue from Benmore, Pukaki and Tekapo.001c a kWh.
Yesterday, spot prices at Benmore bottomed out at 1c a megawatt hour (MWh), or 0. During last winter's power shortage, spot prices peaked five or six times higher than average at almost 50c a kWh, or $500 a MWh. During last winter's power shortage, spot prices peaked five or six times higher than average at almost 50c a kWh, or $500 a MWh.
Meridian and Contact Energy, which is also spilling from Lake Roxburgh and Lake Dunstan, said the increased residential tariffs had already allowed for the possibility spot prices might fall temporarily. However, there is no sign the reverse is true.
"It is like swings and roundabouts.
Meridian spokeswoman Claire Shaw said commercial customers that bought power on the spot market would be "reaping the rewards".
"So the tariff people are paying takes this kind of occurrence into account anyway."
The residential customer tariff had considered the likely behaviour of the spot market.
"Some people are saying they've never seen the lakes so full."
Contact spokesman Jonathan Hill said that the spilling and the low spot prices made for a "pretty unusual situation". This is a pretty rare and unusual set of circumstances.
"The way we set out retail tariffs is to shield customers from the fluctuations in the spot market by setting a price path."
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee could not be contacted last night."
Energy Minister Gerry Brownlee could not be contacted last night.
Yesterday's spill at Benmore began at 4.30pm. Meridian is now spilling 200 cubic metres a second (cumecs) of water, the equivalent of 4GWh a day of electricity, enough to power about 200,000 homes. .
Shaw said Lake Benmore reached its maximum control level about 4pm, forcing operators to start spilling into the Waitaki River.
"We're getting about 200 cumecs more into Benmore than we can push through the station. We should be spilling for days."
There were no plans yet to spill from Lake Aviemore and Lake Waitaki further downstream but that could happen , she said.

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Drunk teen mob terrifies campers

By RICHARD WOODD – Thursday, 08 January 2009

CAMERON BURNELL/
GET OUT: Constable Danny Giles with a youth after a mob rampaged through a campground terrorising and abusing other campers.

A mob of drunken youths went on the rampage, terrifying campers at Opunake Beach early yesterday morning.
Camp lessee Craig Russell was punched in the head when he asked them to leave.
Police yesterday arrested one 16-year-old and charged him with assault and disorderly behaviour.
He and three campers held off the mob of up to 20 youths until the police arrived.
The youths, who had been at a party in Eltham Rd, were text-called to the beach by their mates after Mr Russell asked a noisy carload to leave about 1am.
Three others are being interviewed and are likely to be charged also.
They scattered into the hills and scrub when two carloads of police arrived.
More than 500 people have been staying at the camp this summer and most were still there when mayhem erupted yesterday.
The South Taranaki District Council, which owns the camp, is supplying night security patrols for the next week.
"We know who these guys are and we will catch them all.
Opunake police officer in charge Constable Danny Giles played down the confrontation, calling it an isolated incident and not typical of Opunake. We do not expect any further problems. There has been talk around the camp of possible retribution but that will not happen."
Mr Russell said that just after 1am a black Subaru wagon with a noisy exhaust roared up with four males and three females
"They were all drunk and had come from a party on Eltham Rd."
Mr Russell said that just after 1am a black Subaru wagon with a noisy exhaust roared up with four males and three females
"They were all drunk and had come from a party on Eltham Rd. I said my campers wanted a quiet night," he said. I went out with a torch and suggested they go to the next bay and have their fun there.
"I took one around the corner to try and talk some sense in to him and next thing I'm hit in the forehead.
The Subaru drove off, but they left two guys behind and others arrived from the party. They were examining for trouble, they were well fonged up. I looked up and saw another dozen guys walking down the road towards us. They started throwing bottles everywhere.
"They kicked a couple of wheelie bins over, full of bottles.
"There was no further assault on anyone and they didn't try to go into the camping area. One guy picked up a big rock and threatened to smash my head in. There was a lot of smashed glass around. There was a lot of smashed glass around.
"My main concern was to stop them getting into the camp. We have some very good people staying here, a lot of kids, and I didn't want their holidays ruined."
He said the incidents were caused by a minority local group fired up by too much liquor and testosterone and he was concerned the publicity might discourage campers and affect his business.
"This is a fantastic camping ground and we want people to come back. This sort of incident is not going to help our bookings for next season. I don't want to see it blown up as a major event."
Lars Mathiasen, of Wellington, was camping with his wife and two small children.
"Last night we thought it was all too scary and maybe we shouldn't come back but then we thought if we didn't then these bastards are dictating where we can go. .
"This was our first visit. We love the place and we love the kind of people who camp here. A lot of them are local farmers."
His wife Marnie, who is seven months' pregnant, said it was a terrifying hour for campers.
"It just suddenly erupted, but it had been brewing for a while. There had been incidents of swearing and shouting from visitors on a couple of other nights.
"They were screaming abuse, they said they'd kill him. They said things like: `We'll bring the shotgun and f…… kill you, we'll bring our pit bulls. We'll put you in a coma.'
"They abused the campers as well. We could hear everything.
"They made haka-like challenges at the manager.
"It was a very personal attack on him."

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Jet-skier survives 30 hours adrift

and YEVGENIA MUNRO – Monday, 05 January 2009

KIRK HARGREAVES
DRY LAND: Nathan Maclure relaxes at home yesterday after surviving a 30-hour ordeal adrift at sea on a jet-ski.

Man rescued after 24hrs at sea

A Christchurch man who spent more than 30 hours adrift on a jet-ski 13km off the Canterbury coast has his wetsuit to thank for his survival.
"If I had only gone out in my boardshorts like I had been thinking, it probably would have been the end of me," said 26-year-old Nathan Maclure.
The strong currents dragged Maclure from the mouth of the Waimakariri River as far south as Lyttelton Harbour and then returned him 30km up the coast to close to his original entry point.
Maclure survived two vicious storms, hailstones, jellyfish, sharks, and the numbing cold of a night spent bobbing off the coast before he was picked up by a Russian fishing boat on Saturday evening.
Maclure said he stayed out after his friend returned to shore about 1.
From the safety of his parents' Halswell home, a tired and sunburned Maclure described how an afternoon "wave jumping" with a friend off Kairaki Beach on Friday turned into a harrowing and close to-fatal ordeal.30pm.
Unconcerned, he pulled out a "safety sausage", a two-metre-long red windsock and waved it for fellow jet-skiers and fishermen on the shore to see and waited to be rescued, but no help came. .
At one point he was level with Sumner Beach but decided against ditching the jet-ski and swimming in, as the current was strong and he did not want to be without the craft if he failed to make it to shore.
An attempt to swim to shore with the jet-ski roped to him proved fruitless and the current began to drag him south.
"All night long I was fighting the storm.
As night fell a storm rose and the temperature plummeted. Every now and then a wave would come and hit you off. Every now and then a wave would come and hit you off.
Maclure said he swung between optimism and despair.
He became drowsy from the cold and stopped himself nodding off by singing songs and doing exercises.
On Saturday morning, the warm sun revived his spirits and he looked down and saw a school of jellyfish.
His parents were away until yesterday and he knew the alarm would not be raised until then.5m) sharks engulfed the jellyfish in seconds". Then, to his horror "three eight-foot-long (2.
"After I saw the sharks, I was not going back in the water.
The sharks ate the school next to where he sat and then began tapping their noses against the underside of his jetski, Maclure said.
Maclure had to face the hail to see the waves that threatened to overturn him."
The sky darkened in the afternoon and he was pelted by a hailstorm.
He swam the last 50m to the boat, the Ivan Golubets.
He swam the last 50m to the boat, the Ivan Golubets.
He climbed a rope ladder to the deck and the crew winched his jet-ski on board.
He was 13km off the coast.
The fishermen fed and clothed him and radioed the coastguard, which sent a boat to collect him. He arrived back at Kaiapoi on a Ashley-Waimakariri Volunteer Coastguard boat about 9.30pm.
The captain of the Ivan Golubets, Yuri Dzhambulatov, said Maclure was in shock.
"Our doctor gave him some tranquillising pills and he had tea with the doctor, but the ship to take him back came in less than an hour."
Maclure had been spotted about 6.45pm, about 13km offshore from Kaiapoi.
"He was about 1.5 miles away from the ship a dark spot that stood out against the background of the greenish sea. He started to swim towards us, and we had to ask him to stop, because the ship was approaching him too fast.
"We then threw a rope and he tied himself up and we lifted him. He wasn't too cold in his wetsuit but he was apparently rather shocked and very tired.
"He was just really lucky that we were there at that time. I don't know how long a search would have taken for him."
Coastguard New Zealand southern region manager Cheryl Moffatt said a jet-ski was equivalent to a boat from a maritime perspective and some type of communicator should be carried.
Constable Stephen Carbines, of the Kaiapoi police, said Maclure had experienced "fairly harsh conditions" and was "extremely lucky".
Carbines said Maclure should have had an Eperb (electronic positioning emergency radio beacon) because the safety sausage was not widely recognised.
Maclure said he would get his jet-ski back from the trawler when it docked at Lyttelton earlier today.
"I'll be back out there next weekend with a GPS unit," he said.

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Fire ban looms for Hawke’s Bay

The Wednesday, 24 December 2008

A total fire ban looms in Hawke's Bay as the region struggles to cope with very dry conditions.
However, a meeting of the former Hawke's Bay drought committee in Hastings yesterday concluded the region is not yet in the grip of another drought.
"Many areas on the Heretaunga Plains and near the coast are verging on extreme fire conditions," he said.
Hastings District Council deputy principal rural fire officer Paul Hawke said soaring temperatures had made the district which covers a large part of Hawke's Bay one of the driest in the country.
Fire permits were now being issued only for barbecues and traditional cooking fires such as hangi. Maraekakaho, Crownthorpe, Waimarama, Ocean Beach and Putorino were the areas worst affected.
Hastings Mayor Lawrence Yule, who chaired the drought meeting, said parts of Hawke's Bay were very dry but others were doing well. A total ban would follow if the hot, dry conditions continued, Mr Hawke said.
Farmers were making use of their experience of recent droughts and selling off stock if they were short of feed.
"The worst areas are Mahia and parts of Central Hawke's Bay," he said.
Last year had been financially bad but recent price rises had helped, he said. "If they haven't got green grass then surplus lambs should go," Mr Yule said.
"You have to go back to 1914 to find a drier spring," Mr Wyn-Harris said.
Takapau farmer Steve Wyn-Harris, who keeps comprehensive rain records, said his area had received a total of 78 millimetres of rain over September, October and November. . "But it's patchy there were some thunderstorms in Central Hawke's Bay and some people got the rain, some didn't

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Safety plea on foreign drivers

Tuesday, 23 December 2008

Acoroner is calling for special road markings and fluorescent warning stickers in rental vehicles to prevent tourists driving on the wrong side of the road.
But the mother of a man killed when an American driver crossed the centre-line says it is the tourists who have to take more responsibility. "And you can't change the habits of a lifetime. "People get off a plane and get straight into a car without even knowing the road rules," Sally Beard said yesterday. ."
Her son, Kylie, 26, was travelling with his partner and his two-year-old daughter in a Subaru Legacy when it was struck by the tourist's Maui rental van near Nelson in November 2005.
In a ruling issued yesterday, coroner Ian Smith reiterated calls from the dead man's family to improve foreign driver education and for fluorescent "Keep left" warning signs to be displayed prominently in all rental vehicles.
American tourist Jess Fronckowiak had already pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving causing injury, was ordered to pay $10,000 and had left New Zealand before Mr Beard died. At present, all cat's eyes are either white or yellow.
Mr Smith said reflector cat's eyes, which glow red when seen by vehicles on the wrong side of the road, should be installed on New Zealand roads.
Figures from 2004 showed that five of the 46 deaths involving overseas drivers, and 91 of the 1193 injuries, were caused by cars being driven on the wrong side of the road, Mr Smith said.
He also called for Parliament to review driving laws after police confirmed that careless driving causing injury carried the same weight as careless driving causing death.
The agency would also be reviewing licensing rules for overseas drivers next year, including tightening rules for gaining a New Zealand licence which is compulsory for people who have stayed in the country for more than a year.
There were no warning stickers in Fronckowiak's rental van, but the Transport Agency said that, since the accident, officials had been working with rental companies to ensure they were used. They need to take more responsibility.
But Mr Beard's mother said that was irrelevant: "Tourists should be more prepared, maybe have to sit a test before they come here.
"He's gone happily on his way and we're the ones with the life sentence."
Mrs Beard said Kylie's death had devastated the family and, even though it was an accident, they still felt Fronckowiak had walked free."
Transport Agency central operations manager Mark Owen said the coroner's recommendations on cat's eyes would be investigated. Nothing will bring Kylie back, but we want to make sure this doesn't happen to anyone else.

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Transport Minister Steven Joyce is awaiting a briefing next year on road safety measures and what can be done to improve them

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Wetas’ winning ways fascinate student

By – Tuesday, 16 December 2008

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NOT FUSSY: Victor Kang has won an award for his research into the mating habits of Banks Peninsula tree wetas.

For many students and adults, wetas are best left to their own creepy devices. .
The project last summer, supervised by Lincoln University, meant taking wetas out of their cage twice a day.
Victor's research into the mating preferences of endangered Banks Peninsula tree wetas was not for the faint-hearted.
"If you just handle them slowly and carefully and don't rush, they are OK," he said.
Victor admits to some early nerves, but said he soon realised the wetas were far more scared of him.
Victor's findings showed the Banks Peninsula female tree wetas were not fussy about whether they mated with males from their own species or those from the more common Canterbury tree wetas, which inhabit a similar environment.
Lincoln University entomologist and research co-supervisor Mike Bowie said the findings were valuable for scientists trying to determine whether the species was hybridising and whether the offspring were sterile.
"Interbreeding is bad for them they lose their identity and uniqueness," he said.
Victor, who has just finished his final year at Burnside High School, chose the weta research project from a list of topics provided on the application form.
Victor was one of four participants from last week's Realise the Dream science fair in Wellington who won the chance to present their findings to the Beijing Youth Science Creation Competition in March. "Even if I am just walking in the street and I see ants, I stop to look at them and study their behaviour.
His fascination with insects began in a public garden behind his apartment in his native South Korea, where he lived until he was eight."

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Inquest into six trawler deaths abandoned

By DYLAN THORNE – Wednesday, 10 December 2008

A Southland coroner has decided not to resume an inquest into the deaths of six people in the sinking of Bluff trawler Kotuku in 2006. .
In a decision released yesterday, Mr Savage acknowledges the capsize of the Kotuku, with the loss of six lives, was New Zealand's largest maritime disaster since the sinking of the Wahine and deserved public scrutiny.
The coroner adjourned the inquest in May 2006 after learning independent investigations were being carried out.
However, he says that scrutiny had been applied through inquiries and subsequent reports by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) and Maritime New Zealand and it is not in the public interest that it be relitigated at a resumed inquest.
Mr Savage does clarify that one of those on board, Ian "Shorty" Hayward, 52, died from drowning and hypothermia, consistent with cold-water immersion, rather than just cold water immersion as noted in a pathologist's report.
The TAIC report accepted the Kotuku capsized after being hit by two waves and, while the Maritime report had a different emphasis, the two were consistent and the coroner was satisfied matters such as the identity of those who died and and cause of death had been established, the decision says.
The only real question related to whether the circumstances of the deaths had been adequately established in the reports, the decision says.
Tests carried out to assess the boat's stability after it was recovered were inconclusive but TAIC found the general condition of the hull was substandard and it should not have passed a survey inspection.
Two issues highlighted in the inquiries were the stability of the Kotuku and the condition of its hull and fastenings.
Maritime New Zealand merely stated what the evidence of the surveyor and the skipper was and made no finding of its own.
However, it did not make a finding that that contributed to the accident, the decision says.
Both reports referred to actions already taken as a result of the tragedy and made extensive safety recommendations so there was no reason to hold and inquest for the purposes of making recommendations, the decision says.
Despite this, matters could be deemed to be adequately established if proper consideration was given to all evidence, even if that resulted in a conclusion that it was not possible to make definitive findings, the decision says.
Family members of those who died in the sinking could not be contacted for comment yesterday, but Mr Savage's decision notes they did not want the inquest to be held.
Family members of those who died in the sinking could not be contacted for comment yesterday, but Mr Savage's decision notes they did not want the inquest to be held.

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"You would have been asking a generalised body to review the work of a specialist organisation," he said

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Air New Zealand crash: Final victim named

06.10PM By STAFF REPORTERS – Friday, 28 November 2008

AFP
RECOVERY: Rescuers recover the body of the one crew member recovered from the sea.

AFP
Rescuers at work in the recovery of the victims of the Airbus A320 crash off the coast of France.

Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe talks to the media at a press conference held after an Air NZ A320 plane crashed off the coast of France.

THE AVIATION HERALD
AIRLINER DOWN: The approximate position of the crashed Air New Zealand Airbus A320 jet.

Photo 5 of 5

Air NZ crash update

Key offers support

Eerie echo of Erebus

: Air NZ boss takes questions

: Air NZ crash

Eyewitness account

Airbus A320 ‘reliable’

LATEST: Officials have named the fifth Kiwi presumed dead after today's Air New Zealand airbus crash off the coast of France.

HORROR SMASH: An Air New Zealand A320 – seen here in a file pic – has crashed in Southern France.
He is Noel Marsh, a 35-year-old engineer based in Christchurch. They were: Captain Brian Horrell, 52,of Auckland; Murray White,37, engineer, ofAuckland;Michael Gyles,49, engineer,of Christchurch.
The announcementfollows the namingof three Air New Zealand workers also killed in the crash.
Seven people – including two German pilots – were onboard the Air New Zealand Airbus A320 when it crashed into the Mediterranean, just off Perpignan in southeast France, about 4.
Earlier officials namedthe Civil Aviation Authority inspector on the flight as Jeremy Cook. It had beenon a test flight – involving several manoeuvres – ahead of a return to New Zealand.45am (NZ time) today.
French daily Le Monde reported three bodies had been found.
French daily Le Monde reported three bodies had been found.
"The CAA will continue to provide Jeremy's wife, family and friends with support now and in the future.
In a statement released this evening,the acting Director of Civil Aviation, Graeme Harris, said allauthority staff members were shocked and saddened by the accident.
"Jeremy is a popular engineer, respected and liked by all in the aviation industry. The CAA extends its deepest sympathy to the family and friends to all those missing in this accident."
Mr Cookjoined the Civil Aviation Authority as an Airworthiness Inspector in April 2005. An aviation enthusiast, he has had a long career dedicated to enhancing aviation safety standards, and this accident has affected all within the CAA and the aviation industry.
Earlier in the day,a choked up Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfetold a press conference this afternoon thathe had spoken to the partners of each of the missing men. A Licensed Maintenance Engineer with an extensive background in aircraft maintenance, his career included time with Air Niugini in Papua New Guinea, Ansett New Zealand, and with the Christchurch Engine Centre. I conveyed to them my deepest sympathies and those of all Air New Zealanders as we await further information on their loved ones.
"This is an unbelievably difficult time for the families of those who are missing."
While Air New Zealand still held out hope for survivors, rescuers had told them they had grave concerns for those on board, he said."
While Air New Zealand still held out hope for survivors, rescuers had told them they had grave concerns for those on board, he said.
"It's very difficult for them as they wait for information on their loved ones. My heart goes out to them. They're dealing with the situation with amazing dignity and strength," Mr Fyfe said.
He said Air New Zealand would spare no expense in supporting the families.
Fyfe, who said today was the toughest of his career,will travel to France later today with the family of at least one of the Kiwi victims. Other families are considering their options.
Air New Zealand deputy chief executive Norm Thompson left for France about midday. England-based Air New Zealand management were also en route.
The deputy chief investigator of the Transport Air Investigation Commission, Ken Mathews, will head to the crash site to support the French investigation. Two officials from the NZ Embassy in Paris are also en route.
The airline has asked the media to respect the families' privacy and a security guard has been placed outside the Gyles' home in the Christchurch hill suburb of Cashmere.
CRASH WITNESS
The plane was seen flying low over the French Mediterranean shortly before the crash. It had taken off from Perpignan Airport and had reportedly carried out a touch-and-go landing beforeheading for Frankfurt, Germany, when it plunged into the sea.
Lydie Benedicte, who works on the information desk at Perpignan Airport, told ABC radio that the plane had dipped down into the sea very quickly.
"The aircraft crashed direct,'' she told the station. "It's not far from the airport. That's why the aircraft was not very high in the sky … that's why a lot of people saw the crash near the coast of Cannes.''
SEARCH
Jean Dunyach, head of Civil Security at the Prefecture in Perpignan, told that the search for survivorswould resume at 5amlocal time (5pm today, NZ time) when specialist divers would be sent in.
“Unfortunately, the conditions are very difficult, it is raining, there are 30kms of wind with big waves and operations have been complicated further because it is now dark,” he said in a telephone interview.
The water temperature in the area was believed to be about 13C.
He did not believe there were any survivors. The bodies already recovered had been transferred to the morgue at Perpignan Hospital, where a member of the French Transport Ministry, Dominique Bussereau, was expected tomorrow.
“It is a difficult night for the rescuers … the remaining bodies may well be in pieces.”
Mr Dunyach said the maximum had been done to locate the missing crew members, with five rescue boats, 17 specialised divers, a helicopter and a search aeroplane scouring the scene. Thirty divers were expected tomorrow when he hoped the black box would be retrieved from the wrecked aircraft, currently 40m underwater.
He said the New Zealand and German embassies had been told of the accident and families were being informed.
"It is too early to speculate about the reasons for the crash, only the black box can tell us."
There was a strong feeling of solidarity amongst the local fishermen from the Le Cannet en Roussillon area, as they had been asked to help in the rescue effort.
Better weather was forecast for Friday (French time), and although some were quite shocked by what had happened they were only too happy to lend assistance, he said.
"There was no explosion, it was flying (at) 300m and suddenly fell down into the sea, but no explosion."
There were many witnesses, and emergency services were quickly at the scene.
Some wreckage was floating on the surface, but the pieces were "very difficult to find as a result of the big waves and the dark".
SOMBRE MOOD
The mood at Air New Zealand and CAA headquarters in Wellington was sombre today, as staff waited for news from France.
The aircraft was owned by Air New Zealand and had been on lease to German charter company XL Airways for the past two years. It was four years old when delivered and had flown for Freedom Air for about a year before being leased.
Fyfe said it was being flown to Frankfurt, where it was due to be handed back for a ferry flight to New Zealand this week.
"Naturally, this is an extremely difficult time for us all and the full resources of the airline are being put into investigating what may have happened and providing support to our people and their families," he said.
Fyfe said Air New Zealand was drawing on the experiences of other airlines that had been in similar situations before.
The Air New Zealand pilot on the flight was a very experienced captain, "which is typically what we want when we are going through one of these acceptance processes. We have our most experienced people ensuring the aircraft is up to Air New Zealand standards". .
The crash comes 29 years to the day that an Air New Zealand DC10 crashed into Mt Erebus, killing all 257 passengers and crew.
Mr Fyfe said that today was already very poignant for Air New Zealand as a result of the Erebus tragedy, and the anniversary added a new dimension to the tragedy.
AIRBUS
The jet had been undergoing servicing at EAS Industries in Perpignan and flying circuits for 90 minutes before it crashed, an emergency services spokesperson 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.
Airbus said it delivered the jet in July 2005 and it had carried out 2800 flights with about 7000 hours of use since then. The constructor gave no details of the accident.
There are about 3700 A320 jets in service with almost 3000 more to be delivered. Air New Zealand own two Airbus aircraft, and lease 10.
Their average age is four years, and they seat about 150 passengers.
– with agencies

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Locals dream of the big stage

By SHANE COWLISHAW – Friday, 31 October 2008

DEAN KOZANIC
Starlight in her eyes: Christchurch musical theatre performer Julia Guthrey, 23, was among those to make a shortlist from the Christchurch hopefuls auditioning for the roller-skating musical Starlight Express.

It was all leotards, nerves and hot dance moves at a Christchurch dance studio during auditions for the roller-skating musical Starlight Express.
Starlight is second to Cats as the longest-running musical in British theatre history, and tells the story of a child's dream in which his toy train set comes to life.
The Andrew Lloyd Webber production will be performed in New Zealand for the first time next year with shows in Wellington, Auckland and Christchurch, beginning on July 1. Auditions were also held in Auckland and Wellington.
The 34 hopefuls at yesterday's Christchurch audition at the Impact Dance Studios had been whittled down from hundreds of applicants, and they were competing for 29 spots across the country.
After singing two songs to the judging panel, she was asked to learn and sing two more from the musical.
Christchurch musical theatre performer Julia Guthrey, 23, was among those to make a shortlist from the Christchurch hopefuls.
Angela Hegraty, 22, said of her audition: "I just think the nerves got to me a bit and the choreography went out the window, but I think it went all right.
She said a role in Starlight Express would be a huge step up for her career, which has so far included roles in Christchurch productions of Cats, Chicago and Guys and Dolls. He said the audition panel would now make its recommendations to the English director of the show, and the successful candidates would be told before Christmas."
Producer Stewart Macpherson said the Christchurch hopefuls were among the strongest groups to audition.
The cast would be put through a four-week course with a top German roller-skating coach, he said.
Some hopefuls yesterday were nervous about their roller-skating abilities, but Macpherson said "if they can dance, then almost certainly they can skate".