SCULPTURE: Momentum by Phil Price aims to reflect milestones in the history of Air New Zealand. Photo supplied.

• Howick and Pakuranga Times

A SCULPTURE unveiled at Air New Zealand’s head office last month aims to act as a focal point to reflect on significant milestones in the airline’s history – from the induction of new aircraft types and opening new routes, to tragedies such as the air accidents on Mt Erebus and at Perpignan.

Called Momentum, the sculpture is by Christchurch artist Phil Price.

Its movement is powered by the wind and is an interaction between physical and environmental elements.

It is also a reminder of the fragile nature of flight and the dynamics of forces at play.

Below is an extract of the speech made by Rob Fyfe, Air NZ’s chief executive officer, at the unveiling ceremony.

This wondrous work of art created by Phil Price has been designed and placed here at Air New Zealand’s headquarters, which we affectionately call The Hub, as a focal point to enable anyone connected with Air New Zealand to reflect on the events that have shaped our airline, our character and our sense of identity.

For a small, remote nation at the bottom of the Earth, aviation has become essential to our way of life and our ability to be connected to family and friends and to trade with the rest of the world. For many people, flight still has that element of magic, of awe, that promise of reaching out to explore new worlds, a sense of adventure.

And so it was for the crew and passengers of flight TE901 who set off to fly over the Antarctic wonderland almost 30 years ago.

As we approach the 30th anniversary of the loss of flight TE901 and 257 lives on the slopes of Mt Erebus, and the first anniversary of the loss of five New Zealanders and two German pilots in our Airbus A320 off the coast of France, we acknowledge it is these events that most connect with this dedication ceremony. And so it should be.

We are exposed to risk every day of our lives and aviation is no exception. Despite enormous efforts taken to minimise the risk associated with flying, we cannot eliminate risk completely and occasionally, very occasionally, accidents occur.

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TOUCHING WORDS: Air New Zealand CEO Rob Fyfe giving his speech at the ceremony to unveil the Momentum sculpture. Photo supplied.

In commercial airlines, it is virtually unheard of for an accident to happen because one individual makes a mistake or an error. There are so many checks, so many processes, so much supervision and so much redundancy designed into our systems that it takes many errors and failures to defeat all the protections that exist.

This was true 30 years ago and even more so today as we continue to learn and improve what we do at Air New Zealand and across the global airline industry.

Since we lost our four Air New Zealanders, CAA colleague and our two German colleagues off the coast of France on November 28th last year, I have spent many hours, days and weeks with the families of those who lost their lives in this accident, but also with those who played support roles alongside those families and felt and experienced the pain and the hurt of loss acutely themselves.

I’ve also spent time with accident investigators and with our own staff and customers.

In the hours following the tragedy in France, it was apparent to my team and I that whatever caused the accident had already been determined and nothing we could do would change that.

But where we could make a difference was in how we supported those who had suffered the unimaginable loss of a dad, husband, partner, uncle, brother, son, colleague or best friend.

We could also do everything in our power to learn from the accident, and ensure all those who fly in future can fly more safely as a result of the improvements that are made once we discover the mysteries of what caused this accident.

Yet, if we turn the clock back 30 years and reflect on the events following the Erebus tragedy, sadly the historical record displays what appears to be a different priority – the pursuit of someone or something to blame.

One of the hardest things I’ve had to do in my time at Air New Zealand is listen to Maria Collins, the wife of Captain Jim Collins, and Ann Cassin, the wife of co-pilot Greg Cassin, describe their experiences in the days, months and years after flight TE901.

Their late husbands were chosen for this popular mission because they were two of Air New Zealand’s best pilots.

Captain Collins and First Officer Cassin were highly regarded aviators. They deserve our respect and they have mine.

But despite the media focus on Captain Collins and First Officer Cassin, this is not a story of two families. We had other great crew on that flight and 236 passengers from New Zealand and around the world. Ultimately, hundreds of families lost loved ones in this tragedy and all suffered an equal loss. I have now heard and shared the perspective of a number of those who lost loved ones.

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A number of these families feel they were let down by Air New Zealand in the aftermath of the tragedy.

Without doubt thousands of Air New Zealanders worked tirelessly in the days, months and years after the loss of TE 901 to support families.

The enormity of this tragedy was overwhelming for Air New Zealand and the nation, and we had few of the resources we have available on so many levels today. As a result, Air New Zealand inevitably made mistakes and undoubtedly let down people directly affected by the tragedy.

I can’t turn the clock back, but as I look forward I would like to start this next step in our journey by saying sorry.

Sorry to all those who suffered the loss of a loved one or were affected by the Erebus tragedy and who did not receive the support and compassion they should have from Air New Zealand.

I hope the events following the loss of our men in the A320 accident off the coast of France have shown we have learned from the past and grown as an airline.

But it saddens me many remain fixated by a desire to debate and attribute blame.

This serves us no purpose. The lessons have been learnt, yet there are some who continue to aggravate the suffering and the pain of those who lost loved ones in this tragedy, while adding nothing new to the debate.

In my eyes it is disrespectful to those who lost their lives. It’s disrespectful to their families and to all those who worked so tirelessly in the search and rescue teams, in the police, in the mortuary, in victim identification teams, in supporting the families and in the accident investigations.

It is my profound hope that when we formally mark the 30th anniversary of Erebus, and the first anniversary of Perpignan, with events on November 28 in Auckland, Christchurch, Antarctica and France, that we as a nation are able to stop looking in the past and look to the future and to how we as New Zealanders are able to best support those in our community who have suffered the tragic loss of loved ones, whether it’s a very private loss or a tragedy in the public arena like an aircraft accident.

It is moments like these that allow us to define who we are as people, what is important to us and how we treat and support each other in our communities.

Without diminishing the significance of the Erebus and Perpignan tragedies in Air New Zealand’s history, it is important to recognise these tragedies sit alongside other tragic events in the history of Air New Zealand, TEAL and NAC, and also so many magical moments that have shaped the Air New Zealand of today.