However, Mr Ferrier said yesterday the CAA was "adamant" that it wanted all of its evidence read to the inquest.
After a brief discussion with the coroner, he accepted that it was the coroner's right to run the inquest but wanted it on record that CAA would not be happy with that stance.
The first of the CAA managers to give evidence, Joseph Daly, shifted the blame on to the pilot or mechanical failure, instead of the weight and centre of balance issues found by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) as causes of the crash.
Christopher Ford, another CAA manager, said that under the Health and Safety Act the pilot was obliged to commit no act or omission that would endanger himself or others, and that would include obeying the flight manual and ensuring that the aircraft was under or equal to its maximum weight.
Mr Ford said he could not comment, when asked on behalf of the families of the four foreign tourists who died why, as was the case in England, Australia and Germany, the operator was not obliged to insure against personal liability for negligence.
But he noted that the health and safety regulations applied to Skydive NZ's parachuting activities but not the carriage of the skydivers from the airport to the drop point.
Four overseas tourists, Patrick Byrne, 26, from Ireland; Glenn Bourke, 18, from Australia; Annita Kirsten, 23, from Germany; and Brad Coker, 24, from England, four Skydive NZ dive masters Adam Bennett, 47; Michael Suter, 32; Christopher McDonald, 62; and Rod Miller, 55, and their pilot Chaminda Senadhira died in the crash.
The inquest is expected to finish today.
-Greymouth Star
