MPs pay respects to families of plane crash

In a rare display of unity, MPs followed their acknowledgement in Parliament today of the suffering from Saturday's earthquake with tributes to those killed in the Fox Glacier plane crash.

The usual question time session was replaced with tributes from representatives of political parties following what was a black Saturday.

Transport Minister Steven Joyce said people in Canterbury were coming to grips with the devastation from the early morning quake when a skydive plane crashed shortly after takeoff at Fox Glacier, killing all on board.

They were Rodney Miller, 55; Chaminda Senadhira, 33; Adam Bennett, 47; Michael Suter, 32; and Christopher McDonald, 62, all of whom lived in New Zealand; along with Patrick Byrne, 26, from Ireland; Glen Bourke, 18, from Australia; Annita Kirsten, 23; from Germany, and Brad Coker, 24, from England.

"So as the nation experienced the great relief of thousands of lives spared from a natural disaster, we also felt the great sorrow of nine lives lost in a terrible tragedy," Mr Joyce said.

"New Zealand's aviation and skydiving industries are tight-knit communities, and I know they are feeling devastated by what has happened."

Mr Joyce said the Fox Glacier community was in mourning and noted that many of the village's homes overlooked the airstrip and would have witnessed the crash or its aftermath.

Labour MP Damien O'Connor said he had visited the area following the crash. "The people are stunned, the community is numb," he said.

The sympathy of Parliament went out to the families of all the victims, he said.

"We cannot explain why, at this stage, their lives were lost, but we can give a commitment to do everything possible to prevent such terrible tragedies occurring in the future."

He said patience was now needed to allow for a thorough crash investigation before conclusions could be made.

ACT MP John Boscawen said he hoped Parliament's notice of motion to acknowledge the tragedy and offer sympathy would help comfort grieving families.

"No words of mine can mitigate the pain and sorrow that the friends and loved ones of the nine victims must be feeling. But I hope they can take even a little solace in the knowledge that the thoughts of every member of this House, indeed of the entire nation, are with them at this terrible time..."

Russel Norman from the Green Party, Te Ururoa Flavell from the Maori Party and United Future's Peter Dunne also offered sympathies on behalf of their parties.