Air New Zealand A320 Accident Update 10

Family members of two of the five New Zealanders lost in the A320 crash will travel to France tonight.
Air New Zealand Group General Manager International Airline Ed Sims says the families of two of the missing people will leave Auckland tonight accompanied by members of the airline’s Special Assistance Team.

“Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe is due to land in Perpignan around 5am NZ time tomorrow accompanied by the family of one engineer, representatives from the airline’s security, safety investigations, A320 fleet and communications divisions. Also travelling with him are representatives from the New Zealand Police, NZ Airline Pilots Association and the Transport Accident Investigation Commission.

“They will join Air New Zealand Deputy Chief Executive Officer Norm Thompson, General Manager Europe Scott Carr and a team of seven from the airline’s London office who arrived in Perpignan last night NZT to provide on the ground support to the search and rescue operation.”

Mr Sims spoke to the head of the search and rescue operation within the last hour.

“I have been advised that every effort continues to be made to search for the missing people and recover wreckage. A team of ten specialist divers were due to enter the water at 8pm NZT today to retrieve the flight recorders, a critical step in the process of understanding what caused this tragic accident.”

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