Air crash report 'tightwire'

Families have been on a "tightwire" while waiting for the final report into a plane crash that killed five New Zealanders a year ago, a family member says.

The Air New Zealand Airbus A320 crashed into the sea near Perpignan, off the southern coast of France, killing five Kiwis and two German crew.

A service will be held in Perpignan on Friday, and in Christchurch and Auckland on Saturday, to commemorate the anniversary of the accident.

Christchurch engineers Noel Marsh, 35, and Michael Gyles, 49, and a former Christchurch man, Civil Aviation Authority inspector Jeremy Cook, 58, were among those killed.

Several family members will attend the French service, with a plaque to be unveiled at Canet Beach in memory of those killed.

Ten members of Cook's family will be in Perpignan, along with Marsh's wife, Tracy, and their daughter, who was born three months after the crash.

Family members will also be taken to the accident site by boat.

Cook's mother, Beryl Wride, said yesterday she hoped to join other family members in Perpignan for the ceremony, including Cook's wife, and two adult children who are working in London.

She is waiting to find out whether she can get a seat on a flight to France. "It would be fantastic to be with all the others who have managed to get there," she said.

"I went last year, and it's a beautiful place.

"The people were marvellous to us. They were very kind."

The past year had been "terrible", particularly as the final report into the crash had not been completed, she said.

"Although we are doing this and everybody is together, there will be other things to keep us on the tightwire.

"It's been really bad.

"We have not got closure. That keeps the wound open. It's absolutely depressing. It's one of those things you keep questioning `why did it happen' and `how did it happen' and hoping if you can get through the first anniversary perhaps you can get on better."

Families just wanted to know what happened, she said.

"It's been a very long, drawn-out investigation.

"They have kept us up to date with everything over the year.

"We knew how the investigation was going and they could do no more than that at the time.

"The other problem is the French are in charge, so we don't have a great deal of control over that."

The Marsh family declined to comment, while the Gyles family could not be contacted yesterday.

- © Fairfax NZ News