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Father of NZ air crash victim calls for fundamental changes

Father of NZ air crash victim calls for fundamental changes to safety regulation


NEW ZEALAND PM URGED TO CONDUCT URGENT REVIEW OF AVIATION SAFETY AND REGULATION FOLLOWING AIR ACCIDENT REPORT PUBLISHED TODAY

FOUR TOURISTS KILLED IN “AVOIDABLE AND NEGLIGENT” ACCIDENT SAYS FATHER OF UK VICTIM

NEW ZEALAND CAA “MISSED THE OPPORTUNITY” AND OFFERED “NO ASSISTANCE OR OVERSIGHT” TO ENSURE THE AEROPLANE WAS FIT FOR PURPOSE

YOUNG TOURISTS IN NEW ZEALAND AT RISK AND SHOULD “THINK TWICE” ABOUT VISITING


Father of NZ air crash victim calls for fundamental changes to safety regulation


A British man is calling on the New Zealand Prime Minister to conduct an urgent and immediate review of aviation safety and regulation enforcement in the country following the publication of a highly critical air accident investigation report. Chris Coker, whose son died in New Zealand whilst trying skydiving, has written to New Zealand PM John Key today after publication of the air accident report into his son’s death. Mr Coker has told the Prime Minister that pending such a review “the public and tourists in New Zealand are highly vulnerable and are not safe, and the case for a change in the way adventure sports are regulated and such regulations enforced is now overwhelming”.

Mr Coker believes that until action is taken, there is compelling and worrying evidence that young people should “think twice” before pursuing any adventure activities in the country. This follows the publication of the air accident report, the findings of which he said “will alarm and worry every parent whose son or daughter travels to New Zealand on holiday”.

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The official air accident report, published today, confirms that at least two of the tandem-master crew in the aircraft had been taking controlled drugs and one had taken cannabis shortly before the flight. The report is critical of the CAA in New Zealand, as well as others, and calls on the New Zealand government to introduce a rigorous control and testing drugs and alcohol regime.

Bradley Coker (24), from Farnborough, Hampshire, was killed along with three other young tourists on 4 September 2010 when the light aircraft taking them on a skydiving experience, crashed immediately after take-off at Fox Glacier, South Westland. All nine on board were killed, in what Chris Coker, Bradley’s father, calls “a completely avoidable and needless fatal accident”. It was New Zealand’s worst aviation accident for seven years.

An official report into the accident by New Zealand’s Transport Accident Investigation Commission published today, Wednesday 9 May 2012, finds the accident was caused by a series of negligent and reckless acts by those operating the aircraft in which the young people died and that the CAA “missed the opportunity to ensure the aeroplane was fit for purpose” and that “there was no assistance or oversight provided by the CAA” to ensure the aeroplane was safely introduced into service”.

In particular:

• The aircraft was overloaded and took off with more than its permitted take-off weight which was not checked prior to take off. We have discovered from the final report that the operator, Skydive NZ, had never performed this vital calculation since the day the aircraft was purchased, significantly modified and put into operation. The report says that the aeroplane was “excessively out of balance”. Furthermore, this was not policed by the New Zealand Regulator, the CAA which has admitted that “it did not check all the individual modifications” and that some “should not have been made to [this aircraft] without approval”;

• The passengers were not properly distributed on board the aircraft and the centre of gravity for the aircraft was around 55 per cent outside the allowable limit prescribed by the flight manual. None of the passengers in the aircraft were secured by a belt or other device and this is allowable under current NZ regulations. The report states that “ the weight and balance of the aeroplane … was the most significant factor contributing to the accident” and recommends that passengers should “preferably be restrained to prevent them moving rearward”. The poor distribution of passengers in the cabin was compounded by a lack of proper control within the cabin because:

• The report found that two of the aircraft’s crew in the cabin had taken controlled drugs in the hours before the flight. The crew in the cabin, known as “tandem masters” were paired with each of the tourists and harnessed to them in preparation for direct “control” of a tandem parachute descent. Even so, despite previous calls for compulsory random drug and alcohol testing, the CAA was “not convinced … that the costs would outweigh the benefits”. [page 43] The New Zealand Ministry of Transport has been looking into the issue of substance impairment since 2005 and in 2010 announced it would “investigate the feasibility of implementing a compulsory post-accident drugs testing regime” in 2011/2012. [page 24]

New Zealand law does not allow companies to be sued in the courts for negligence and has no criminal offence of corporate manslaughter. Compensation is decided by the New Zealand Accident Compensation Corporation, the sole and compulsory provider of accident insurance in New Zealand, which determined the death of Bradley Coker merited compensation for the family of £2,744. This compensation did not even cover the cost of the repatriation of Bradley’s body to the United Kingdom.

Oversight of activities associated with skydiving, including safety regulation, inspection and control, is largely delegated by the NZ Civil Aviation Authority (the CAA) to an industry governing body, something Mr Coker believes needs urgent change. In fact, the CAA had tried to inspect this company previously but no-one was in when inspectors called. In addition, the final report reveals that the CAA aviation safety advisers visits to Skydive NZ were “reported to have been of an informal nature”. [page 17] and that the CAA’s health and safety manager, who had audited four parachuting operators, “had no piloting or engineering experience and was not able to comment on operational safety and compliance”. [page 19]

The air accident report concludes: “Maintaining flight safety requires active participation and a co-ordinated approach by all sectors of the industry”. It found that:

• “the engineering company that modified [the aeroplane] did not follow the proper processes required by civil aviation rules and guidance”;

• “the aeroplane owner and their pilots did not comply with civil aviation rules and did not follow good, sound aviation practice”;

• “the CAA’s oversight and surveillance of commercial parachuting were not adequate to ensure that operators were functioning in a safe manner”;

• “an alcohol and drug testing regime needs to be initiated for persons performing activities critical to flight safety; and that

• “safety harnesses or restraints would help to prevent passengers sliding rearward and altering the centre of gravity of the aircraft”.

Writing to the Prime Minister, Mr Coker said:

“Nothing you can do will bring back my son Bradley, who was killed in the prime of his life whilst enjoying a holiday in your country, and no amount of compensation could make up for his death.

“Bradley’s death was completely avoidable and needless. The circumstances that led to his death are a shocking catalogue of behaviour that would be regarded as negligent in every civilised country in the world. This accident is, tragically, the latest in many similar events in your country and amply demonstrates the lack of proper regulation and control and the need for urgent and fundamental reform in the way this kind of activity in New Zealand is monitored, controlled and regulated.

“I urge you to act in the best interests of the thousands of young people who come to New Zealand every year to enjoy what you have to offer in such a beautiful country. Until you do act, the beauty of your country will continue to disguise a regulatory and legal culture that makes the public and visitors highly vulnerable and puts their lives in significant danger.

“When an accident happens in New Zealand, the law is not there to support you. There is not a single parent anywhere in the world who would look at the case of the death of our son and not find our treatment at the hands of the authorities and the legal system derisory.

“Until action is taken to ensure the regulation, inspection and control of adventure sports, particularly involving aircraft, is radically tightened, I feel it my duty to advise people thinking of visiting New Zealand for adventure sport to think twice.

“My whole family owes a duty to other families around the world to warn them of these dangers. I do not wish another parent to have my experience of a knock on the door at 5am telling you that your beloved son is dead.

“The whole world appreciates the focus that has been required of your Government to recover from the terrible events at Christchurch.

“But the year before the earthquake – in June 2010 – a national review in your country of the adventure tourism industry found that ‘regulatory safety standards applicable to commercial adventure aviation were designed for recreational (non-commercial) activity and did not provide sufficient assurance that commercial activities involving inherent risk are safely managed’. And yet there was no urgency on the part of the Government to effect the radical changes in regulation, monitoring and control that would have saved the lives of my son and his fellow tourists.

“A new civil aviation rule, effective from 1st May 2012, requires skydiving and other adventure aviation operators to hold a CAA Operator Certificate. This does not do anything to strengthen monitoring and control of the regulations, which might have saved Bradley's life. Every day that radical improvements in the enforcement of safety in New Zealand are delayed puts the lives of more tourists at very great risk.”

Elizabeth Coker, Bradley’s sister, and a UK lawyer, also said: “When your brother travels to a Commonwealth country such as New Zealand, you naturally expect the safety standards and legal standards to match those of the UK or your home country, and this is not the case. You cannot sue for negligence in New Zealand and there is no criminal offence of corporate manslaughter. In our view, this has had the effect of lowering safety standards in New Zealand. There is no ultimate sanction, either financial or criminal, on companies who ignore their duty to protect the public. This accident report backs our view that the legal system in New Zealand is weighted entirely against victims of accidents, and indeed the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office website warns UK citizens of this in giving startling advice about travelling to New Zealand. I don’t think this is well known, but it deserves to be. Perhaps if my brother had known about it, he might not have taken the flight that ended his life. No-one would knowingly board an aircraft crewed by people who had taken controlled drugs. It defies every standard of decency and lawful behaviour in relation to the safety of others.”

The families of those killed in the crash have very recently received a touching letter from the people of Fox Glacier and Franz Josef. The community, who expressed their shock and continued sadness over the tragedy, plan to create a memorial seat in memory of those who died and held a collection to help relatives with legal and other costs. Each family received £400 from the local community, which has greatly touched the Coker family.

ENDS

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