The search area was widened because surveillance planes could not see tiny fragments of wreckage in choppy waters. And families, once again, did not know how or why their loved ones died.

Airbus has rushed two specialists to Jakarta to assist in the investigation of the disappeared A320 airliner operated by AirAsia, the budget carrier that rose from almost nothing in 2001 to be its biggest customer.

Tributes are flowing for the brave pilot who made a split-second decision to slam into water instead of crash-landing among hundreds of beach-goers at Raglan.

Woman on board small plane that spluttered and crashed into Raglan harbour yesterday, narrowly avoiding hundreds of holidaymakers.

The father of a Jordanian pilot captured by Isis after his plane crashed pleaded for his son's release, as reports emerged that the jihadists were preparing to publicly execute him.

A light plane plane has crashed into water off Raglan Beach and sunk.

A former airline boss claims the US shot down flight MH370 because the military feared it had been taken over by hackers.

A pilot who flew his homemade bi-plane into the sea in a deliberate attempt to take his own life was possibly inspired by the missing Malaysian Airline flight MH370, a coroner has found.

A Hawke's Bay pilot who illegally carried passengers has admitted causing a catastrophic plane crash - and says his flying days are over.

The families of two New Zealanders who died in a gliding crash in a remote area of Namibia yesterday have paid tribute to two "wonderful men and experienced pilots".

Two men miraculously survived a helicopter crash north of Auckland yesterday - the second time one of the pilots has crashed in 19 months.

Two people have been injured following a helicopter crash in Rodney, north of Auckland.

A flight formation ended the funeral in Auckland today of pilot Ann Barbarich, who died after suffering a suspected brain aneurysm at the controls of a plane after landing in Perth.

A top Malaysia Airlines executive who is in NZ this week is urging relatives of those lost aboard MH370 to be patient as the carrier works to pay compensation.

Two people were seriously injured after a light plane crashed yesterday afternoon.

Air NZ will send its third and final flight to Mt Erebus this month - upsetting family members who have missed out.

Trailblazer for women flyers had just landed new Air NZ jet when she suffered suspected aneurysm.

Malaysia Airlines says a compensation offer of US$50,000 to the families of MH370 victims is only "part of" the final payment it intends to make.

The widow of Kiwi MH370 victim Paul Weeks has rejected a compensation offer of $64,000 from Malaysia Airlines.

A top airline boss has voiced doubts about the search for doomed airliner MH370 and said the plane may not even be in the southern Indian Ocean.

A piece of paper caught in a tree led searchers to the wreckage of a missing helicopter and the body of pilot Damian Webster in Kahurangi National Park.

Damian Webster was flying from Karamea on the West Coast to Nelson, when his Robinson 44 helicopter disappeared on Tuesday.

The search for a missing helicopter has entered its fourth day.

The family of a pilot who has been missing since his helicopter disappeared near Nelson two days ago are going through hell, his uncle says.