Air safety record makes a crash landing

New Zealand's skies are apparently more dangerous than most.

A study by the Civil Aviation Authority has found New Zealand's aircraft crash rate is worse than Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The study plots the number of accidents per 100,000 hours of flying time between 1990 and 2002.

New Zealand accident rates for smaller aircraft and helicopters were on average five times higher than in the US and four times higher than in the UK. Our accident rate is similar to Australia, but our crashes killed twice as many people.

CAA spokesman Bill Sommer said the findings would be presented to the aviation industry. "It's a way of saying, c'mon guys we have to do better."

John Funnell, president of the Aviation Industry Association, said: "The industry is aware of its less than impressive record and we are trying to improve it."

- THE HERALD ON SUNDAY