The following is a shortened transcript from the cockpit voice recorder of Air New Zealand Flight 901, which hit Mt Erebus in Antarctica 30 years ago on November 28, 1979, killing all 257 people on board. Times are GMT.

As the first anniversary of the Air New Zealand Airbus crash in France nears, the victims' families admit to being on a "tightwire" waiting for the final report into what happened.

LONDON (AFP) - Dan Carter is relishing the prospect of facing some familiar faces when New Zealand look to maintain their tour winning streak against France in a "make or break match" in Marseille next week.

A Martinborough pinot noir has taken the top trophy in this year's Air New Zealand wine awards.

Relatives of the New Zealand crew who died in the Air New Zealand A320 crash in France a year ago head to France next weekend for the unveiling of a plaque in their memory.

A year after the crash that killed five New Zealanders and two Germans in France, aircraft maker Airbus is wrestling with what to do about poorly executed flight tests of jetliners emerging from major overhauls.

A middle-aged Auckland man was killed when his single-engine stunt plane crashed in a field during rough weather in Taranaki yesterday.

A man is dead after crashing in a small plane in Taranaki farmland today.

A lawyer who represented the Ministry of Transport during legal action over the 1979 Erebus disaster said its victims would have received more compensation had they been in the United States.

There has been what is thought to be a fatal microlight crash in South Taranaki.

Former All Blacks loose forward and rugby pundit Murray Mexted claims he was suspended from the Sky television commentary team after criticising plans to cull four teams from the Air New Zealand Cup.

New Zealanders will get the chance to be fast-tracked into the United States under a pilot scheme between the countries starting tomorrow.

The United States and New Zealand are trialling an electronic boarder control process that will see travellers from of New Zealand to Los Angeles fill out one less form.

Air New Zealand is promoting its airfares by taking the mickey out of two MPs who are in the headlines for their travel perks.

Passengers were evacuated from an Auckland-bound Air New Zealand 737 flight in Wellington today after what was thought to have been a hazardous substance was found in the hold.

Passengers were evacuated from a Christchurch-bound Air New Zealand 737 flight in Wellington today after a hazardous substance spill.

New Zealand head of mission Todd Cleaver wore a traditional sulu -- a wrap-around garment like a skirt worn by both men and women in Fiji -- to Nadi International Airport for his precipitate departure from the islands.

One of New Zealand's lesser-known white varieties, viognier, has won the plaudits of a visiting wine judge.