Blame on Airbus victims saddens mother

Photo / Rotorua Daily Post

A mother who lost a son in the Air New Zealand Airbus crash off France is saddened to see blame being meted out to the people involved.

An expert report ordered by French prosecutors has partially blamed human error for the crash near Perpignan that killed five New Zealanders and two Germans in November 2008, but prosecutors have decided so far against laying any charges.

The report says some responsibility may also lie with two of the three sensors essential for the plane's computerised flying system.

"I feel quite sad about it - that there would be blame attached, in the way it is," said Beryl Wride, whose son, airworthiness inspector Jeremy Cook, 58, was among those killed.

"Because these people have families the same, and they have lost their families as well. And then to have this on top is pretty bad. You sort of think of it for yourself, and you wouldn't like it."

All of those involved in the flight that day were professional people and knew the risks, Ms Wride said.

"But you just never know what is going to happen. I can see no reason to apportion blame. But you see, from a commercial point of view, that doesn't go, does it?"

The report said the Airbus A320 was flying at too low an altitude to carry out a low-speed test, a finding which was separately reached last year by France's air safety board, the Bureau d'Enquetes et Analyses (BEA).

Aviation commentator Peter Clark said there were clearly elements of things not being done correctly during the flight, but the reasons for this were still unknown.

A final accident report, still to come, would draw on information from a larger range of sources, he said.

Ms Wride said the latest report was just one of several analysing the crash, each of which was quite unsettling.

"But ... I guess we have come to the point of thinking well, no matter what the results are, it's not going to alter what has happened for us personally."

Every time the crash was raised again in the media it generated fresh feelings of loss, she said. "But we can't do anything about that."

Air New Zealand said it was unable to comment on the latest report.