The Piper Seneca crashed in thick fog into Mt Tauhara, east of Taupo, killing prominent South Australian businessman Bernie Lewis, 66, his wife Christine and the pilot Steven Brown in February 2005.
Mr Lewis founded Bernie Lewis Home Loans and was former chairman of the Adelaide 36ers basketball team.
Mr Lewis's son Mark, a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot with 15 years' experience, told the coroner's inquest in Rotorua on Wednesday the crash was caused by a "significant chain of events and circumstances" made by Mr Brown, charter company Christian Aviation and Civil Aviation, Fairfax reported.
Mr Brown had shown poor airmanship, Christian Aviation gross negligence in events leading up to the crash and the Civil Aviation Authority put "money before safety" by not adopting international medical certification standards for all pilots, Mark Lewis said.
Mr Brown had a heart condition, which would have restricted him from flying as a solo pilot if working in the United States or Europe.
A post-mortem showed traces of alcohol and cannabis in his body, but it was not possible to determine if they affected him at the time of the crash.
The pilot's father, David, a director of Christian Aviation, told the inquest the flight should not have taken off, but it was the pilot's decision to do so.
The aircraft was also 30 degrees off course from the approach path to Taupo Airport when it crashed.
Air New Zealand reports showed Taupo's directional beacons were deviating by 15 per cent up to half the time, but the information was not shared with authorities, Radio New Zealand reported.
Source: http://news.msn.co.nz
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