KEY POINTS:
Air New Zealand engineer Noel Marsh - one of five New Zealanders killed in a plane crash off the French coast yesterday - leaves a pregnant wife and two young sons.
His wife Tracy and family said last night they were deeply saddened, but retained hope Mr Marsh would be found alive.
The plane, carrying five New Zealanders and two German pilots, crashed in the Mediterranean near Perpignan after taking off from the city early yesterday.
In addition to Mr Marsh, a 35-year-old engineer, the New Zealanders are Air NZ captain Brian Horrell, 52, engineers Murray White, 37, and Michael Gyles, 49, and Civil Aviation Authority airworthiness inspector Jeremy Cook, 58.
The flight was a part of maintenance being done before the Airbus 320 was returned to Air New Zealand after a two-year lease to German company XL Airways.
The aircraft was on a flight to go through a series of routine manoeuvres in the skies above the Mediterranean sea when it crashed.
Captain Horrell, one of Air New Zealand's most experienced A320 captains, was sitting in behind the two German pilots, observing that the plane was operating normally.
Mr White, Mr Gyles, Mr Marsh and Mr Cook were seated further back in the plane.
During its time with the German airline, the plane made 2800 flights totalling about 7000 hours of use.
It passed all of its ground and maintenance inspections before taking off yesterday.
The plane disappeared off radar screens at 4.54 pm local time when it was about 8km out from France's Perpignan Airport.
Witnesses told Perpignan's L'Independant newspaper that the plane made "an attempt to climb but fell back down again immediately".
It was at a low altitude on a normal airfield approach.
"I saw an enormous splash of water then, a few seconds later, I heard the noise. It was terrifying," said one witness.
A yachtsman said he saw the plane "crash head-first into the sea."
Staff at the EAS Industries' maintenance centre in Perpignan, where the plane was headed to, were stunned.
The company's chief executive officer, Fernand Ejnes, said after a 3 hour crisis meeting that he was at a loss for words: "Today I can only mourn for the victims. Full stop."
Staff interviewed by L'Independant said they thought pilot error was to blame, although only the inquiry will be able determine this.
"I don't want to prejudice the outcome, but there has to be a pilot problem," said one source. "Did the pilot want to test out the aircraft? Was he too low for trying out a stall manoeuvre?"
Deputy public prosecutor Dominique Alzeari told L'Independant: "It's far too soon to provide any explanation.
"The plane was apparently well maintained. It underwent maintenance work, painting, but nothing was carried out on the core parts of the aircraft. There is nothing to indicate that this plane had had the slightest damage."
The crash happened off the holiday resort of Saint Cyprien.
An aviation enthusiast monitoring radio traffic said he heard ground controllers give the pilot instructions to descend to 4000ft (1200m).
"The pilot read it back and this is the last time we heard the pilot," he said, "Not a single mayday, nothing."
Then the pilot of a nearby Piper Warrior shouted over the radio: "an aircraft crashing, an aircraft crashing".
Another witness said: "There was no explosion, it was flying at 300m and suddenly fell down into the sea."
A spokeswoman for the Pyrenees Orientales department said the plane plunged almost vertically into the sea.
With darkness descending and the weather deteriorating French authorities launched a search and rescue team that included five lifeboats, two gendarmerie vessels a firefighting vessel, a spotter plane and a civil defence helicopter.
It was not long before two of the bodies were found among debris floating in the cold waters.
By nightfall, rain and winds of up to 30 knots made it impossible for the helicopter and plane to continue searching, but the ships remained in the hope of finding others from the plane which could been seen from the surface of the water.
Specialist divers were expected to enter the water at first light to search for the remaining crew members and the plane's flight recorder.
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe, who was last night flying to Perpignan, said he was confident French authorities were doing absolutely everything they could to find the lost crew.
"They will keep pursing the search effort until they locate all the people involved. They obviously now have grave concerns for the safety of the people involved.
"I relayed to all the families that while we hold out hope and we won't give up hope the search and rescue, authorities are not optimistic, given the conditions, of finding any survivors."
Representatives from at least one of the crewmen's families were flying to France with Mr Fyfe last night.
Mr Fyfe said he had spoken to each of the New Zealander's families, and Air NZ could do whatever was needed to help.
"This is an unbelievably difficult time for the families of those who are missing."
Air NZ group general manager Ed Sims said that 150 people, including 60 specialist divers, were taking part in the search.
Air NZ staff from London had arrived at the scene by private jet.
