NZ Aerospace Fletcher FU24-954, Skydive New Zealand, ZK-EUF
A coronial inquest into the deaths of nine people, killed on a skydive plane crash at Fox Glacier, will be streamed live on the internet when it starts today.
Families from overseas who could not make it to New Zealand for the inquest requested the online broadcast so they could watch the proceedings.
Four international tourists were among those who died in the plane crash at the glacier in September 2010.
The inquest in Greymouth is set to hear at least four days of evidence, although a final list of witnesses could not be confirmed.
It will examine the circumstances surrounding the crash, and is expected to investigate regulation and protocol for adventure sports.
Earlier this year, the family of 24-year-old British tourist Bradley Coker, who was killed in the tragedy, said the deaths were "completely avoidable".
Bradley's father, Chris Coker, said he didn't want other parents to experience "a knock on the door at 5am" telling them their "beloved son" was dead.
He wrote to Prime Minister John Key requesting a review of aviation regulations, and launched a YouTube video and Facebook campaign critical of New Zealand's safety standards for adventure sports.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission has already published its report into the Fox Glacier crash, finding that the plane was heavier than its maximum operating weight and that it was off balance.
The report revealed that only three months before the crash, the plane had been converted from an agricultural crop-duster to a parachute-drop plane by engineering company Super Air Limited.
"The modification ... had been poorly managed and discrepancies in the aeroplane documentation had not been detected by the Civil Aviation Authority which had approved the change in category," the report said.
New Zealanders killed in the Fox Glacier crash were pilot Chaminda Senadhira, 33, Skydive New Zealand director Rod Miller, 55, Australian-born Motueka man Adam Bennett, 47; New Plymouth man Michael Suter, 32; and Christopher McDonald, 62, from Mapua.
The other tourists who died were Irishman Patrick Byrne, 26, Australian man Glen Bourke, 18 and German Annika Kirsten, 23.
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