Families of students killed in a canyoning tragedy near Turangi say they are shocked at the number of mistakes made.
Six students and their teacher from Elim Christian College in Auckland died in the Mangatepopo Gorge during flash flooding on 15 April 2008.
The group was on a school trip at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuit Centre in Tongariro National Park.
An inquest concluded in Auckland on Friday.
Evidence was presented that the children should never have been in the gorge that day, and those who could have stopped them did not.
The inquest was told the centre had problems with communication, judgement and support for junior staff. Questions were also raised about whether the guide who led the group was qualified to do so.
The chief executive of the Outdoor Pursuits Centre on Friday was taken to task over his lack of knowledge about problems that contributed to the deaths.
Grant Davidson told the hearing that wrong decisions and poor communication at the centre were contributing factors.
But the lawyer for police, Ben Vandekolk, said most of the failings happened every day - not just on the day the Elim group died.
Mr Vandekolk suggested to Dr Davidson that he should have been in tune with his organisation and known about the failings before they became fatal.
Dr Davidson said he is accountable for what went wrong, but could not be expected to know everything that was happening on the ground.
Litany of errors - father
The father of a girl killed canyoning tragedy says he believes if any one of a litany of errors had not occurred that day, she would still be alive.
Andy Bray, who lost his daughter Natasha Bray, told Checkpoint it was hard to hear that, even though the centre had many safety policies in place, staff failed to comply with them.
"I think what's been most depressing for the families has just been hearing the testimonies of various staff that were on that day and just how incompetent the operation seemed to us.
"There just seemed to be a litany of errors that occurred throughout the day - any one of them not happening could have prevented this incident from happening at all."
Catherine Linnen, who lost her only daughter Tara Gregory, says the inquest was supposed to give her answers, but has left her agitated, sad and angry.
Ms Linnen said the families had not realised how many mistakes were made at the centre - and by how many people. She is calling for more of those involved on the day the group were killed to take responsibility.
The lawyer for the Outdoor Pursuits Centre told the inquest big changes had been made since the tragedy to improve safety.
