Former CEO of collapsed airline Kiwi Air Ewan Wilson admits he was the whistleblower in the Civil Aviation Safety Authority’s closure of a freight company he worked for.

In his new book Help, My Plane’s On Fire!, Wilson catalogues a litany of aircraft failures at Pacific Air Freighters where he worked as a trainee pilot in the Australian Outback following Kiwi Air’s demise.

Wilson says a fire on board, continued brake failures and engine problems, cargo overloads and a severely loose propeller could have caused an aviation disaster – and he felt morally compelled to report the company.

Awarded a New Zealand Special Service Medal for his relief work in Sri Lanka, Wilson discusses his rise from a public and catastrophic company failure to successful tour-guide operator and philanthropist in his new book.