Mistake led to crash of skydiving plane in NZ
Source: Agencies |
May 11, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A SKYDIVING plane that crashed near a New Zealand glacier in 2010, killing nine people, was overloaded because modifications for it to carry passengers were poorly managed, investigators concluded.
The report has prompted one victim's father to claim New Zealand's popular adventure-tourism industry is unsafe - a claim that New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key has rejected.
The small plane had been modified from agricultural to skydiving use three months before it crashed near Fox Glacier airfield on September 4, 2010.
But owner Skydive New Zealand failed to calculate the proper weight changes before flying the modified aircraft, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission concluded in its report, released on Wednesday.
It was 17 kilograms over the weight limit when it crashed and too much of the weight was at the rear of the plane, investigators said.
A father of one of the tourists on board blamed the crash on lax New Zealand safety enforcement and a legal system that essentially prevents people from suing for negligence.
"To people thinking of going to New Zealand on an adrenaline sport, think twice," Chris Coker of Britain told the BBC. His son, Bradley Coker, was 24.
Adventure tourism is a major economic driver in New Zealand. About 2.6 million people visit the country each year, with one-third participating in an adventure sport such as bungy jumping, skydiving or jet-boating, according to government statistics.
Key's press secretary, Kevin Taylor, said recent industry reviews have improved safety.
The report has prompted one victim's father to claim New Zealand's popular adventure-tourism industry is unsafe - a claim that New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key has rejected.
The small plane had been modified from agricultural to skydiving use three months before it crashed near Fox Glacier airfield on September 4, 2010.
But owner Skydive New Zealand failed to calculate the proper weight changes before flying the modified aircraft, the Transport Accident Investigation Commission concluded in its report, released on Wednesday.
It was 17 kilograms over the weight limit when it crashed and too much of the weight was at the rear of the plane, investigators said.
A father of one of the tourists on board blamed the crash on lax New Zealand safety enforcement and a legal system that essentially prevents people from suing for negligence.
"To people thinking of going to New Zealand on an adrenaline sport, think twice," Chris Coker of Britain told the BBC. His son, Bradley Coker, was 24.
Adventure tourism is a major economic driver in New Zealand. About 2.6 million people visit the country each year, with one-third participating in an adventure sport such as bungy jumping, skydiving or jet-boating, according to government statistics.
Key's press secretary, Kevin Taylor, said recent industry reviews have improved safety.
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