Delay leaves pilots flying blind

An Air New Zealand pilot is concerned "massive systems failures" in the Airbus which crashed near Perpignan could be putting other pilots and passengers at risk.

The airline has warned pilots not to speak, but several have concerns about a series of failures that appear to have helped cause the A320 to crash off the French coast in November.

One A320 pilot said he and colleagues around the world considered the French interim report a whitewash and believed too little progress had been made in the investigation.

Progress is slow because French authorities are pursuing a double inquiry - an investigation that could result in criminal charges, including homicide, being laid, as well as an air accident investigation.

The Air New Zealand-owned plane stalled and went out of control during an acceptance flight. The two German pilots and five New Zealanders died when the plane plunged into the Mediterranean Sea.

Last month an interim report from the French bureau for accident investigations, the BEA, indicated some systems failures during a final, low-level test at the end of the 90-minute flight.

While New Zealand pilot's union the NZ Airline Pilots Association has stayed publicly quiet, members are frustrated that the final report is likely to be a year away.

Pilots want to know what caused the Airbus to stall three times, rear up to 57 degrees and finally fall out of control into the sea.

"We are wondering if this [the situation the German pilots faced] is something we will be presented with one day in the cockpit," said one.

Association executive director Rick Mirkin said delays in the investigation were caused by the French system, which meant a Perpignan magistrate had been appointed to lead the criminal investigation.

The magistrate had complete control of the evidence, which slowed down the BEA's progress enormously.

"We've all found this delay very frustrating, especially having lots of other pilots who fly the A320, who are all concerned," Mirkin said.

"Criticising the French legal system is not going to get us anywhere but here we are more than three months after the accident and there's still not a lot of information apart from this bare interim report."

By contrast, within a week of the Hudson River A320 crash, the American National Transportation Safety Bureau had analysed both black boxes, published their content and was already talking about the likely cause.

Mirkin said it was too early to speculate on the cause because of the lack of information.

"What could look like pilot error could in fact be more to do with equipment malfunction providing incorrect information to the pilots."

As with most air accidents, there were likely to be multiple issues rather than a single cause. "We have every expectation this will be the case here because there are a number of technical issues associated with this flight... that have yet to be explained."

In "general terms" there was confidence in the Airbus as an aircraft.

About 400 international pilots are due in Auckland later this month for a five-day conference at SkyCity.

Mirkin said while the Perpignan crash was likely to come up "in the corridors", and a representative from Airbus would attend, the accident was not on the official agenda.