Airbus pilot's family dealing with grief

SHIRLEY WHYTE/ The Southland Times

REMEMBERING: Alton Valley farmer Nicol Horrell, brother of pilot Captain Brian Horrell, out on the farm reflecting on the one-year anniversary of the Air New Zealand Airbus A320 crash in France.

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A Tuatapere family is still struggling to come to terms with the tragic loss of their son and brother one year after his death.

Captain Brian Horrell, 52, four Kiwis and two German crew were killed when their Air New Zealand Airbus A320 crashed into the sea near Perpignan, off the southern coast of France, on November 27 last year.

Alton Valley farmer Nicol Horrell said his brother and the other men on the flight died carrying out their duties to ensure the plane was safe before being returned to service in New Zealand.

The other Southland man involved in the crash was engineer Noel Marsh.

The Airbus was leased by XL Airways Germany from Air New Zealand and was to be returned to New Zealand after a test flight from Perpignan to Frankfurt.

The first report into the crash, which was released in February, says the Airbus was flying low and slow before the pilot lost control.

The French investigation bureau's interim report shows that Captain Horrell discussed checking the aircraft's performance at low speed with the German pilot less than three minutes before the crash.

A second report into the crash is scheduled to be released next month.

Mr Horrell said his family did not want to speculate on the causes of the tragedy before the crash reports were released.

The family have not seen a draft copy of pending crash reports.

"But we all remain hopeful that something will come out of this eventually to ensure they did not die in vain.

"We are very proud of Brian and he is sadly missed by all his family," Mr Horrell said.

Brian's wife Shellie, daughter Olivia and son Logan declined to fly to Perpignan in France to attend a service to commemorate the anniversary of the crash this weekend.

However, Air New Zealand is flying Captain Horrell's parents, Herb and Moria Horrell, of Tuatapere, to Auckland to attend the memorial service being held tomorrow.

The Horrell family also intends to have its own family gathering sometime during the weekend.

They also said they appreciated the support from Air New Zealand after the crash.