Journalist Ball recalls his 'big scoop'

Masterton man Kevin Ball was the star of the show on Thursday as he was interviewed for a documentary series about New Zealand's worst disasters.

As a young cadet for the Northern Advocate in 1963, Mr Ball was tasked with covering New Zealand's worst road accident - the Brynderwyn bus crash which left 15 people dead.

"It was my big scoop," said Mr Ball, who was a journalist for 60 years and still writes.

"There's never been anything like it since, thank goodness."

Fifteen people were killed and 20 injured when a bus carrying them back to Port Waikato, from Waitangi, crashed due to brake failure on its descent down the Brynderwyn Hills.

Because all the senior reporting staff were in Waitangi covering Queen Elizabeth's visit, Mr Ball was sent out on the job and had to stop the press to get the coverage in the next day's paper.

Fellow journalist Mark Sainsbury interviewed Mr Ball at the Bush Telegraph building in Pahiatua, using the old printing presses as a backdrop and for footage.

Tony King, who runs The Printing Works at Cobblestones Museum, also brought up tools of the trade that would have been used back then, specially for the episode.

Normally the one asking the questions, Mr Ball said he was a bit anxious beforehand because he hadn't been interviewed on camera before.

His recollections will be part of a four-minute slot in an episode about the crash in TVNZ's Descent from Disaster series, which will screen on TV One in 2015.

Mr Sainsbury will also talk with others affected by the crash, who were either on site at the accident or loved ones of those who perished.