Five years later, pilot charged over fatal crash

By TONY WALL and NZPA

Manslaughter charges have been laid against the captain of an Ansett plane that crashed near Palmerston North five years ago.

Gary Southeran is due to appear in the Palmerston North District Court on April 10.

North Shore businessman William McGrory, who survived the crash and played a key role in guiding emergency services to the scene, said yesterday that he felt sorry for Southeran.

"I think the worst thing for him is that it's so long ago. It's been five years waiting for this decision," Mr McGrory said.

But he understood that police had a job to do.

Mr McGrory, who ignored his shoulder and back injuries and guided rescue services to the scene on his cellphone, said he had not expected charges to be laid against the pilot.

"It would be nice to have the whole thing sorted out and finished with and get on with the rest of our lives, but it keeps on coming back. It's a very slow process."

The Dash 8 plane crashed in June 1995 as it approached Palmerston North airport in fog. A female flight attendant and two male passengers were killed. A third man died two weeks later from his injuries.

The victims were Karen Anne Gallagher, aged 31, Jonathan Peter Keall, 43, David Alan White, 37, and Reg Dixon, 47.

The central police district crime manager, Detective Inspector Doug Brew, said Southeran would face four manslaughter charges related to the four deaths and three representative charges of injuring passengers.

Twelve of the survivors who suffered serious injury in the crash are suing the airline for $250,000 each in exemplary damages.

Ansett spokesman John Cordery said he would not comment.

Southeran was laid off by Ansett in restructuring late last year. He had not flown since the accident.

An Airline Pilots Association spokesman said yesterday that the charges would shock a lot of people.

"We'll be throwing everything behind it like there's no tomorrow," he said.

The crash investigation has been a drawn-out affair after the pilots' union took court action to stop the plane's cockpit voice recorder being used in the investigation.

An inquiry by the Transport Accident Investigation Commission found seven causes of the accident and made 35 safety recommendations.

After the report was released, police executed a search warrant at the commission's Wellington office and took the cockpit voice recording and other black box data.

Since last September information recorded by aircraft black boxes has been inadmissable under the Transport Accident Investigation Commission Amendment Act as evidence in criminal or civil proceedings against pilots.