That word sorry meant something entirely different for the families of the Pilot and co-pilot of flight 901.
Jim Collins and Greg Cassin not only perished but then suffered the indignity of being wrongly blamed for the tragedy.
It left an emotional wound for their loved ones that today showed the first sign of healing.
“One of the hardest things I've had to do in my time at Air New Zealand is to listen to Maria Collins the wife of Captain Jim Collins and Anne Cassin the wife of co-pilot Greg Cassin,” says Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe.
Maira Collins always felt Air New Zealand abandoned her family in their hour of need. It's taken 30 years for that to be addressed.
“It was good to hear it from himself that the way we were handled or should I say we weren't handled at all in those days, with the way things are done now, was quite inadequate, “ says Ms Collins.
Air New Zealand swiftly sided with the Air Accidents inspector in blaming pilot Jim Collins and co-pilot Greg Cassin for the tragedy.
A Royal Commission of enquiry later absolved the pair, but that was never acknowledged by Air New Zealand and so did little to ease the pain of the families.
Pointedly today the crew were described as aviators who deserve our respect.
Both familes are thankful for the public pressure brought to bear on Air New Zealand, in their words - making an apology the right thing to do.
But for Maria Collins the fight's not over yet.
I'm after the vindication of my husband’s reputation and that's still not vindicated and I'm very keen to be able to achieve that before I'm not longer here to do it.
3 News
source: newshub archive
