The Air New Zealand plane which crashed into the Mediterranean last night was less than four years old and had successfully been on a two hour flight earlier this week according to reports.

The Airbus A320 flew for a year with Freedom Air, an Air New Zealand subsidiary, before it was leased to a German aviation company, XL Airways, two years ago, the New Zealand Herald claims.

It had been in the air for two hours on an acceptance flight before it was handed back to Air New Zealand a few days ago

Air New Zealand said today it had access to the German company's maintenance records and it had no concerns about any aspects of the aircraft's performance in the last few years.

Two German XL Aviation pilots were at the controls of the aircraft when it crashed off the coast of France. A senior Air New Zealand captain from Auckland, two airline engineers from Christchurch and an engineer from Auckland, and a Civil Aviation Authority inspector were also on board.

The jet plunged into the Mediterranean as it was approaching the Perpignan airport, from which it had taken off on a circular flight an hour earlier, France's civil aviation accident investigation bureau said.

Witnesses said it appeared low in the sky and seemed to drop into the sea as it began to turn.

Officials said there were no distress calls or communication before the plane went down.

This morning, investigators from New Zealand, France and Germany were travelling to the crash site about 12 miles off the coast.

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