Air New Zealand identifies those lost in the A320 crash off the coast of France

Air New Zealand has officially identified the five New Zealanders who are presumed to have lost their lives in the crash of an Airbus A320 off the coast of France, on November 27, 2008.

The aircraft, owned by Air New Zealand, had been leased to XL Airways Germany for the past two years, and was about to be returned to Air New Zealand. Immediately prior to yesterday's crash, the accident aircraft had been performing an acceptance flight (as Flight GXL 888T), and was about to be ferried to Frankfurt where it would be officially handed over to Air New Zealand.

According to information provided by the airline, the five New Zealanders on board were:

• Capt. Brian Horrell, 52, Air New Zealand pilot from Auckland
• Murray White, 37, Air New Zealand engineer from Auckland
• Michael Gyles, 49, Air New Zealand engineer from Christchurch
• Noel Marsh, 35, Air New Zealand engineer from Christchurch
• Jeremy Cook, New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority inspector

The names of the two XL Airways crew members who were piloting the aircraft have not yet been made public.

The most recent media statement about the accident issued by Air New Zealand says, in part:

French authorities have now advised Air New Zealand that it should not expect there to be any survivors after its Airbus A320 that was on lease to XL Airways of Germany was lost in the Mediterranean yesterday.

Group General Manager International Airline Ed Sims says rescue authorities have told the airline it appears the aircraft broke up on impact and there was no realistic chance of survivors.

"This is devastating news for the families and all Air New Zealanders as we had all been clinging on to hope. Sadly, rescue authorities have told us that all evidence on site indicates that given the nature of the impact there is no chance of survivors. Debris is spread over a large area and it appears the aircraft is not in large pieces as originally indicated by those who saw the impact," Mr Sims says.

Earlier today, French search and rescue authorities advised Air New Zealand that they had identified locator signals from the two 'black box' flight recorders from accident aircraft. They are not expected to be recovered until tomorrow due to deteriorating weather conditions.

Condolences to the families, colleagues and friends of all seven individuals who were lost in this tragic accident.

Airbus A320 ferry flight ends in the Mediterranean Sea, off France

An Airbus A320 owned by Air New Zealand has been lost in the Mediterranean Sea, off the coast of France. The accident happened on November 27, 2008, at approximately 17:00 local time. The downed aircraft has been located a little over 3 nautical miles offshore, resting in about 30 meters of water, according to several news reports from France. There were seven people on board. At this writing, the remains of three have been recovered, while the fate of the others is not yet known.

The aircraft, which had been leased for the past two years to XL Airways Germany, had been undergoing maintenance by EAS Industries at Perpignan, France in preparation for its return to Air New Zealand. According to a media release issued a short time ago by Air New Zealand, the aircraft was being flown from Perpignan to Frankfurt "where it was due to be handed back to Air New Zealand for a ferry flight back to New Zealand."

One news article about the accident suggests that the crew may have been attempting to ditch, reporting, "The spokesman for XL said the plane tried to make an emergency landing on the sea."

Reports say that the aircraft was being flown by two XL Airways pilots. Also on board were a senior captain and three engineers from Air New Zealand, and an official of the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority. Names of those on board have not been released.

UPDATE Nov. 28, 2008: Today, Air New Zealand officially identified the five New Zealanders who were on board the accident aircraft. The names of the two XL Airways pilots have not yet been made public.

French authorities have identified locator signals from both the Digital Flight Data Recorder (DFDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) from the downed A320, but have not yet been able to retrieve them due to poor weather conditions at the accident sit.

UPDATE Dec. 1, 2008: The Air New Zealand Public Affairs Office reports that both the DFDR and the CVR have now been recovered from the sea, however they add that "it is now clear both it and the cockpit voice recorder have been badly damaged. These will be sent to manufacturer Honeywell in North America to determine what data can be extracted."

UPDATE Jan. 12, 2009: FlightGlobal.com is reporting today that investigators have succeeded in retrieving data from the aircraft's flight recorders. After the French Bureau d'Enquetes et d'Analyses (BEA) was unable to access data from either device, they were sent to Honeywell, the manufacturer. Honeywell was able to recover data from both recorders, and the BEA are beginning analysis.