By Imogen Crispe
The family of a British man who died in an air accident in 2010 says New Zealand is unsafe and is warning tourists about coming here.
Chris Coker, father of Bradley Coker who died in a plane crash at Fox Glacier, says the country is unsafe and is calling for a review into aviation safety after the report into the crash was released today.
Bradley Coker, 24, was killed along with all crew and passengers on September 4 2010 when the plane taking them skydiving crashed straight after take-off at Fox Glacier, South Westland.
The report found the main reason for the crash was the aircraft being overloaded, as well as the passengers not being distributed properly or secured.
It also found two of the skydiving instructors had taken cannabis.
Watch extended footage of TAIC's announcement
Watch the video of Chris Coker's 'NZ is unsafe' campaign
“The circumstances that led to his death are a shocking catalogue of behaviour that would be regarded as negligent in every civilised country in the world,” Chris Coker says.
He has written to John Key about what he says was a “completely avoidable and needless fatal accident” and that a review of New Zealand aviation safety is necessary.
Mr Coker says the report “will alarm and worry every parent whose son or daughter travels to New Zealand on holiday”.
But the Coker family are going further and saying the whole of New Zealand is a dangerous tourist destination.
“The public and tourists in New Zealand are highly vulnerable and are not safe, and the case for a change in the way adventure sports are regulated and such regulations are enforced is now overwhelming,” Mr Coker says.
The family have set up a Facebook page, NZ Tourist Safety, and released a YouTube video about how unsafe New Zealand is.
The Facebook page says “New Zealand is a dangerous tourist destination – over 2400 tourists killed in the last 12 years”.
It contains warnings and links to articles about tourist accidents and fatalities in New Zealand.
The YouTube video criticises how New Zealand law prevents lawsuits for personal injury including wrongful death and comments that “there is no ultimate sanction either financial or criminal on companies who ignore their duty to protect the public”
The video urges people to “think twice about loved ones travelling to New Zealand”.
Mr Coker also says the compensation his family received from ACC for Bradley’s death of $5626 was not enough and did not cover the cost of repatriating his body back to the UK.
“When an accident happens in New Zealand, the law is not there to support you,” he says.
The family are encouraging people to email John Key to “make New Zealand a safer place for tourists”.
Mr Coker says until a review of regulation, inspection and control of adventure sports happens, young people need to think twice before going on adventure activities here.
3 News
source: newshub archive
