NZ-trained volcanologist in Philippines fatal air crash

Three years after gaining his doctorate at Canterbury University, Philippine chief geologist Norman Tungol has been killed in a helicopter crash.

Dr Tungol died a few days before his 40th birthday, one of nine people killed last Thursday in a crash 100km north of Manila.

He moved to New Zealand in 1997, his family following him a year later.

In 2002 he completed his doctorate in engineering geology with distinction at Canterbury University.

He was one of the Philippines' few experts in geological hazards.

Dr Tungol was so bent on improving disaster management in the Philippines he turned down a chance to live in New Zealand after he graduated, his wife Malou told Manila's Daily Inquirer newspaper.

Returning home was payback for the country that supported his college education at the University of the Philippines, she said.

"A lot of (Philippines) people who went to New Zealand would renege on their contract to serve their country after completing their studies," she said.

"But right from the start, Norman decided that we would return here. He wanted to apply everything he learned in the Philippines.

"It was a dilemma for me, as a mother, because I had seen a better option for our kids."

The couple had four daughters.

- NZPA