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The fixed-wing aircraft crashed after takeoff at Fox Glacier, killing all nine onboard. - Source: ONE News -
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The families who lost loved ones in a tragic skydiving crash on the West Coast have expressed their anger over New Zealand's aviation regulations.
Nine people died when a skydiving plane crashed at the end of Fox Glacier runway on September 4, 2010.
A Coroner's hearing into the crash began today with emotional scenes from families angry over the lack of accountability following the crash.
The families are calling for the Civil Aviation Authority and Skydive New Zealand to impose tougher regulations on the adventure tourism industry.
"We feel the lack of regulatory control was a major factor in the plane crash that caused the death of Patrick and the eight other people that day," said Mark Byrne, brother of Patrick Byrne.
"We are angry and upset over the lack of accountability for the plane crash. We can only hope lessons are learnt from this incident."
The pilot, four other New Zealand-based men and four overseas
tourists died when their plane crashed at the end of the Fox
Glacier Airport runway.
Plane took off almost vertically
Today's hearing heard from a damning report by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission which blames the weight and balance of the plane for the fatal crash.
The report found the plane, which had recently been converted from an agricultural plane to a parachuting passenger plane, was overloaded and unbalanced when it took off.
An eyewitness told the court the plane took-off almost vertically, before crashing less than a minute later.
"It looked like it was wobbling, came down in loop, and looked like it nosedived into the ground. There was a big fireball," evidence from witness Alan Hughes stated.
But the family of the skydiving company director lost in the crash disagrees with the report. Rod Miller's son Jake told ONE News the findings of the report was based on "easy options".
"I personally don't think the TAIC report is reasoned, I don't think Ian's (one of the report's authors) conclusion is what caused accident," said Miller's son Jake Miller.
That report also found that two of the Sky Dive Masters had smoked cannabis in the days before the flight, but the Coroner said this would not be considered in the hearing.
Sixteen witnesses will be called during the inquest which is set down for five days.
No one is facing criminal charges.