Fatal boat crash driver faces trial

The driver of a jetboat that crashed in Central Otago last year, killing a Chinese tourist, has been committed for trial.

Kawarau Jet driver Ian Morgan is charged with operating a jetboat in a manner which caused unnecessary danger to other people, an offence carrying a maximum one-year jail sentence or a $10,000 fine.

Yan Wang, 42, was killed and seven people were injured on September 25 when a Kawarau Jet boat, carrying 22 passengers, flipped where the Shotover and Kawarau rivers meet.

Ms Wang's body was found under the upturned hull 90 minutes after the accident.

A fixture hearing is set down for October 12. Morgan, who is in Britain, will return for the trial.

Meanwhile, another trial involving a tourist's death on the Kawarau River began in Queenstown yesterday.

Mad Dog River Boarding director Brad McLeod is defending charges laid by Maritime New Zealand after British woman Emily Jordan died on one of the company's excursions.

Ms Jordan, 21, drowned after becoming trapped between two rocks while riverboarding on the Kawarau River Gorge last April.

The outing was organised by Black Sheep Adventures Ltd, which trades as Mad Dog River Boarding.

Mr McLeod and his company deny three charges each laid under the Health and Safety in Employment Act.

- NZPA