KEY POINTS:
A French investigator probing the crash of the Air New Zealand jet in the Mediterranean on November 27 has identified the two Germans who were among the seven dead.
The pair were Captain Norbert Kaeppel and co-pilot Theodor Ketzer, deputy state prosecutor Dominique Alzeari told the Herald.
Kaeppel, 51, and Ketzer, 58, came from the Frankfurt area. They worked for the charter firm XL Airways Germany, which had leased the Airbus A320 from Air New Zealand for 2 years, and were putting it through a check flight before handing it back.
Five New Zealanders died: Captain Brian Horrell, 52, from Auckland; engineers Murray White, 37, from Auckland, and Michael Gyles, 49, from Christchurch; Noel Marsh, 35, from Christchurch; and Jeremy Cook, 58, a Wellington airworthiness inspector.
Alzeari is part of the Perpignan-based judicial team carrying out an investigation for involuntary homicide. Their work runs in parallel to the inquiry carried out by French aviation safety experts at the Bureau d'Enquetes et Analyses (BEA) in Paris.
Delivering an interim report on Wednesday, the BEA reported the A320 crashed into the Mediterranean after a low-speed manoeuvre at a dangerously low altitude.
In Germany, XL Airways Germany issued a statement yesterday to acknowledge the report but said it "only reflects a part of the ongoing investigation into the accident".
"Further investigations will succeed in determining the exact background ... and cause of the accident."
Asger Schubert, spokesman for XL Airways Germany, said the BEA report was "only one step and we need many more steps to make clear what has happened".
