A Northland writer has apologised to the widow of a Kiwi missing on MH370 after she took offence at a book he's penned about the jet's disappearance.

The widow of NZer Paul Weeks, who was on Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 when it vanished, has hit out at the Kiwi author of a new novella.

The widow of New Zealander Paul Weeks has hit out at the Kiwi author of a new novella on the plane's disappearance.

After a fruitless three-month hunt for flight MH370, Australian authorities have taken the first step towards handing over search operations to a private contractor.

A British woman sailing near Indonesia at the time MH370 vanished says she saw a plane 'burning' and billowing smoke before it crashed.

A man killed in the Carterton balloon crash had been relishing life after receiving news he was clear of cancer only weeks before the fatal trip, an inquest has been told.

A visiting plane on a training flight landed safely at the Greymouth aerodrome about 12.15pm today after reporting problems with the landing gear.

A man who worked with the pilot found to have cannabis in his system after his hot air balloon crashed in Carterton, killing 10, had no idea he smoked cannabis.

The daughter of a couple who died in the Carterton balloon tragedy has told a Coronial inquest of watching the balloon catch fire before it plummeted to the ground.

More than two years after a ballooning accident claimed the lives of their loved ones, relatives are reliving the details of the ill-fated day at a coroner's inquest.

A gruelling week lies ahead for families of the Carterton hot air balloon crash victims as they again hear evidence of how their loved ones died.

The wife of a New Zealander missing on Malaysia Airlines MH370 is spearheading a new victims' group pushing authorities to "share and release" information about the ill-fated flight

Mr Monk, whose son Michael was among the 29 miners killed in the Pike River explosion, was reflecting on the agony expressed by Danica Weeks over the fate of her husband Paul, a passenger on missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

Paul Weeks will be honoured with a military service medal at a memorial service in Christchurch, his family has been told.

Two Westland families are reeling after the death of two close friends in a helicopter crash.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott was to update China's President Xi Jinping on the latest developments in the hunt for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 before he left Beijing last night.

A search is underway for the two occupants of a crashed helicopter on the West Coast.

A final unexplained signal emitted by the missing Malaysia Airlines plane was tracked to the same point in the Indian Ocean at which authorities believe they have found the jet, it can be revealed.

Flight 370 may have been "purposely" flown around Indonesian airspace on its way to the southern Indian Ocean to avoid radar detection, a government source has claimed.

Malaysia's Government is deliberately concealing information that would help explain what happened to missing flight MH370, the country's Opposition Leader has claimed.

A crisis management expert has defended Malaysia Airlines' decision to send news about missing flight MH370 to relatives of crew and passengers via text message.

They continue to look for a needle in a haystack, but four weeks after Flight MH370 disappeared, searchers still can't find the haystack.

The Malaysian authorities have insisted that "someone on the plane" was responsible for the disappearance of Flight MH370.

Malaysia Airlines is introducing new security measures - including an extra crew member inside the cockpit - following the disappearance of Flight MH370.

The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 off Western Australia could take years, a senior US Navy official said.