A BEREAVED Sanson parent wants an upcoming coroner's inquest in Wanganui to result in restrictions to the flying hours of topdressing pilots.
The matter is to be aired on TV1's Sunday programme on Sunday night at 7.30pm, Sanson mother Ann Macrae said. She hopes the programme will result in people offering
to help with the inquest on December 18 and 19 at Wanganui District Court.
She and supporter Frank Cook would welcome advice and information from people who know about aviation or inquests.
"We're hoping people will come forward to corroborate and to enlarge. That's the thinking behind the Tv programme.
"We can't afford a lawyer. We need all the help we can get because the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) has four in-house lawyers. They can afford to hire a QC if they want to, at taxpayers' expense."
The Sunday programme will consist of interviews with Mrs Macrae, Christchurch aviation expert Ross Ewing, topdressing pilot Barry Cardno who survived a crash and the farmer who found Mrs Macrae's son Richard after he and Hunterville man Joe Lourie were killed in a topdressing crash north east of Stratford on April 4, 2003.
The two were employed by Wanganui Aero Work at the time. An inquest into the deaths took place in New Plymouth on October 13, 2004.
Mrs Macrae and Mr Cook were not satisfied with the results.
Evidence about the pair's work hours in the preceding days was not admitted, and several people with an interest in what happened were not informed and therefore not present.
Second inquests are rare, and Mrs Macrae said it had taken months of pressure to get approval for this one.
She hoped the coroner would make recommendations that helped to reduce the death rate for agricultural pilots, and had an open mind about what form they could take. Anyone interested can contact her or Mr Cook through an internet blog site, www.zkltfdown.wordpress.com, which gives an email address.
