Air New Zealand technicians confirmed today an aircraft piece found washed up on a beach along the Manukau Heads, west of Auckland, belonged to one of its planes.
It was found to be the missing part of an Air New Zealand Boeing 747 inner fore-flap which was initially found by fishermen
in the Manukau Harbour two weeks ago, a statement from the airline said.
"Air New Zealand is pleased to be able to put the pieces of the puzzle together and we are grateful to the local resident for alerting us to her find, even though the Transport Accident Investigation Commission did not deem this part as integral to the investigation in terms of ascertaining how the detachment of the fore-flap occurred," airline senior vice president Bill Jacobson said.
Last week Air New Zealand released its preliminary findings, which identified the failure of an inner lug as the probable cause for the flap falling off.
The airline is also investigating why a 10kg panel that fell into a south Auckland carpark last month from another of its 747s was not properly secured.
- NZPA
