Anzac Day crash: Charged officer named

The Defence Force has confirmed the officer facing charges in relation the Anzac Day Iroquois crash, which killed three, is Flight Lieutenant Dan Pezaro.

Flight Lieutenant Hayden Madsen, 33, Flying Officer Dan Gregory, 28, and Corporal Ben Carson, 25, were killed, when the Iroquois they were in crashed into the side of a hill near Pukerua Bay before dawn on Anzac Day, 2010.

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) confirmed yesterday that following an investigation, an air force officer was charged with committing a service offence under the Armed Forces Discipline Act.

"The formation leader has been charged with negligently failing to perform a duty ... The charge does not allege that the accident was directly caused by this omission," the NZDF said.

Pezaro has been previously named by Fairfax as the flight formation leader. He is facing a charge of negligently failing to perform a duty, after failing to abort the mission of the formation when weather conditions deteriorated so much that visibility was lost.

In its statement yesterday, the NZDF said Pezaro had been charged with negligence but did not allege the crash was a direct result of Pezaro's failure to abort.

Pezaro's court martial is set to begin early next month.  

- © Fairfax NZ News