KEY POINTS:
Family members of two of the five New Zealanders killed from the jet that crashed in the Mediterranean early yesterday, will travel to France tonight.
Air New Zealand spokesman Ed Sims said the families of two of the missing people would leave Auckland tonight accompanied by members of the airline's special assistance team.
Air New Zealand's chief executive Rob Fyfe is due to land in Perpignan around 5am (NZT) tomorrow accompanied by the family of one engineer and other Air New Zealand staff.
Representatives from the New Zealand Police, New Zealand Airline Pilots Association and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission were also travelling with Mr Fyfe, said Mr Sims.
Every effort continued to be made to search for the missing people and recover wreckage.
"A team of ten specialist divers were due to enter the water at 8pm NZT today to retrieve the flight recorders, a critical step in the process of understanding what caused this tragic accident," said Mr Sims.
The Airbus A320, being flown by two German pilots, plunged into the sea off the southern French coast as it approached Perpignan airport yesterday morning (NZT).
The A320 was on lease from Air New Zealand to Germany's XL Airways.
Two bodies, so far unidentified, have been recovered.
Air New Zealand spokesman Ed Sims said the search and rescue operation in Perpignan had continued today with up to 75 personnel actively involved.
"The focus is on recovering bodies, locating the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder and recovering debris that may be useful for the investigation," he said.
Signals had been located for the two flight recorders but they had not yet been recovered.
"The search and rescue team has a real urgency to retrieving these today as weather conditions were forecast to worsen overnight," said Mr Sims.
Four of the five New Zealanders on board were Air NZ staff.
They were Captain Brian Horrell, 52, from Auckland; engineers Murray White, 37, from Auckland, Michael Gyles, 49, from Christchurch, and Noel Marsh, 35, from Christchurch.
The fifth New Zealander was Civil Aviation Authority airworthiness inspector Jeremy Cook, 58, of Wellington.
Flags at Air New Zealand locations are flying at half-mast as a mark of respect following news from the French authorities that there was no realistic change of survivors, Mr Sims said.
"The airline will be immeasurably poorer for the loss of our colleagues, and we again express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of those who have been lost," he said.
Condolence books will also be made available to Air New Zealanders from this afternoon, to allow staff to express their feelings for their colleagues.
Mr Sims this morning briefed Transport Minister Stephen Joyce who has undertaken to keep Prime Minister John Key informed.
Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe, who is en-route to Perpignan, has also been kept abreast of developments while travelling. Air New Zealand has team of London-based staff in Perpignan to provide on the ground support to the operation.
The accident is now the subject of a police investigation.
The plane was on a test flight as part of maintenance being done before being returned to Air NZ after a two-year lease to XL Airways.
- NZPA
