Whakaari/White Island eruption: Killed tourist's father repeats call for changes

Wednesday, 11 December 2019

Brad Coker, 24, died in a Fox Glacier skydiving plane crash in 2010.

The father of a tourist killed while doing adventure tourism in New Zealand says the Whakaari/White Island disaster was preventable and authorities should be held accountable.

Chris Coker's son, Brad, 24, died in a skydiving plane crash in Fox Glacier in 2010.

The charred remains of the downed aircraft near the Fox Glacier airstrip following the crash in 2010.

Coker has campaigned tirelessly since his son's death to have health and safety improvements implemented in the New Zealand adventure tourism industry.

Speaking from his home in Hampshire, southern England, he said he was 'devastated' and 'gutted' to hear more tourists had been killed in New Zealand.

The White Island eruption captured from the air.

At least six people have been killed, another eight are missing, presumed dead, and 30 people are being treated at seven hospitals throughout the country following the eruption.

* 'You can't eliminate risk': NZ beefed up safety laws after tourist deaths

* Whakaari/White Island: Police and WorkSafe launch investigations**

Flowers and cards placed at the cordon site for White Island victims on Wednesday.

At least six people were killed after Bay of Plenty volcano White Island erupted on Monday. Another eight are missing, presumed dead, while 30 are being treated at seven hospitals around the country.

'It's devastating to know that after my little campaign it had little to zero effect on the New Zealand authorities and in my opinion the New Zealand authorities … [they] are still slapdash about tourist safety.

White Island Tours is the official tour operator for the island and owned by local iwi Ngāti Awa.

'To run tourists there [to Whakaari/White Island] is insane. I know they signed a waiver and so on, but it's not really taking care of people … It was so preventable [and] it shouldn't have happened.'

He argued New Zealand's ACC insurance scheme, which replaces the right to sue for damages, means there is no way to hold companies to account when things go wrong.

'Had I been allowed to sue the [Civil Aviation Authority] they would've gone 'Christ I don't want a recurrence of that', but nothing has changed … and to think people are walking around a volcano in those circumstances is ridiculous.

'It's not about revenge it's about prevention [of] this happening again,' he said.

Coker received money from ACC to help pay for his son's funeral but nothing further.

'On the surface ACC sounds like a brilliant scheme but from my side it was kind of insulting really to [just] get a contribution to [my] son's funeral.

'It's absolutely gutting, life has no value as far as the authorities are concerned.'

Coker said he felt for the victims of the eruption and their families as they deal with the same trauma he dealt with nine years earlier.

'It was absolutely devastating. It changed my personality and values completely without even realising it. I didn't really care about things and my business went down and down.

'Here we are nine years later [and] although you learn to live with this it's still very much the same. I just live in hope that someday something will change but it's very disappointingly slow.'

White Island Tours is the official tour operator for the island and owned by local iwi Ngāti Awa. It warns passengers that there is 'always a risk of eruptive activity regardless of the alert level'.

The risk is reinforced by safety briefings, the signing of waivers and the distribution of safety gear including a gas mask and hard hat. A shipping container was also placed on the island in 2016 to act as a sort of emergency bunker.

Tour operators work under the Health and Safety at Work (Adventure Activities) Regulations 2016, which require them to undergo a safety audit and register with WorkSafe NZ.

According to the ACC website, the scheme pays up to 80 per cent of a person's income as weekly compensation if they cannot work because of an injury.

Those who have lost loved ones can receive a funeral grant of up to $6311. A one-off payment of $6766 is also made to a spouse or partner and $3383 to each child under 18.

Families can get weekly payments to help with childcare for five years or until the child turns 14. The funding is only available when the children are in New Zealand.

Everyone in New Zealand is covered by the scheme, including international visitors.