Of course, I am no aviation expert and unless I have mislaid the invitation, nobody sought to invite me on to the French team investigating the aircraft catastrophe that Friday afternoon in November last year off the coast of Perpignan in the south of France.

And, as you well know, the last time I landed an aircraft was into a Hawke's Bay vineyard next to Bridge Pa Aerodrome.

In fact, my investigative attentions these days, today included, do not rise much above what has gone wrong with a septic tank and septic tanks do not do much more than they are meant to do - they stay in the ground and do not do anything fast.

The French issued their report into the disaster - in which seven lives were lost, including those of five New Zealanders - in the middle of the night, without warning the families of the New Zealand deceased or the owners of the very expensive aircraft, Air New Zealand....