Air New Zealand DC10 disaster 30 years on

I think it was ‘an orchestrated litany of lies’, as Mr Justice Mahon said.
Next time I’m back in the old country, I’ll ask a few people who were around at the time what they think. I do remember a general suspicion that ANZ was telling porkies in the aftermath, though.
Peter Mahon wrote a book about the affair before he died, I think. I’ll try to find out what it was called and let you all know. It will make interesting reading.

I agree totally.
Mahon’s report was a well investigated and balanced report and he clearly pinpoints all the true causal factors of the accident.
The main reason for all the controversy I think was his complete lack of ‘pulling punches’ to the establishment – which included the Government as a major Air NZ shareholder. e.g his infamous “orchestrated litany of lies” statement.
I highly recommend the docu-drama “Erebus – The Aftermath” with Frank Finlay as Justice Peter Mahon.

Interesting site Mr Rowell, thankyou for bringing it to our attention, no doubt the burnt out section of the fuselage remains in situ? Just wondered if Google Earth picks this up?

I’ll ask my Grandfather, who was in the engine shop when it happened and has a copy of the original report. I’ve never heard him say anything un-just about it so either he’s been keeping quiet all these years, nothing happened, or he just didn’t know about it.

Of course, Verdict on Erebus. I’ll order a copy from Amazon to read as I fly to Brisbane and back at Christmas, part of the way on an A330!
I hadn’t realised that Peter Mahon died such a long time ago. I thought it was far more recently. Also, Ron Chippindale was mown down by a car and killed last year as he took one of his regular morning walks.
Sad in both cases.

I think it was ‘an orchestrated litany of lies’, as Mr Justice Mahon said.
Next time I’m back in the old country, I’ll ask a few people who were around at the time what they think. I do remember a general suspicion that ANZ was telling porkies in the aftermath, though.
Peter Mahon wrote a book about the affair before he died, I think. I’ll try to find out what it was called and let you all know. It will make interesting reading.

Wikipedia
Justice Peter Thomas Mahon (1923-1986) was a New Zealand Queen’s Counsel, best known for his Commission of Inquiry into the Mt. Erebus Disaster. His son, Sam Mahon is a well known artist.

Mahon was junior counsel for the prosecution in the Parker-Hulme murder case in 1954.

After the crash of Air New Zealand Flight 901 with loss of all aboard on 28 November 1979, an accident report was released by the chief inspector of air accidents, Ron Chippindale, which cited pilot error as the chief cause of the accident. Public demand led to the formation of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the accident, consisting solely of Mahon. He produced his report on 27 April 1981, which cleared the crew of blame for the disaster and found that the major cause was the reprogramming of the aircraft’s navigation computer without the crew being notified. Mahon controversially claimed that Air New Zealand executives engaged in a conspiracy to whitewash the inquiry, covering up evidence and lying to investigators, famously accusing them of “an orchestrated litany of lies”. His book, Verdict on Erebus, an account of his inquiry, won the New Zealand Book Awards prize for non fiction in 1985.
In 1983 the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council held that Mahon had acted in excess of his jurisdiction and in breach of natural justice by going on to make findings of a conspiracy by Air New Zealand to cover up the errors of the ground staff.

In 2008, Mahon was posthumously awarded the Jim Collins Memorial Award by the New Zealand Airline Pilots Association for exceptional contributions to air safety, “in forever changing the general approach used in transport accidents investigations world wide.”[1]

One giant cover up???

Very likely.

Be interested to know what the majority of New Zealander’s view on the causes – especially after 30 years to reflect.
Would they generally go with Chippendale or Mahon – or perhaps opinions are very divided?

I think it was ‘an orchestrated litany of lies’, as Mr Justice Mahon said.
Next time I’m back in the old country, I’ll ask a few people who were around at the time what they think. I do remember a general suspicion that ANZ was telling porkies in the aftermath, though.
Peter Mahon wrote a book about the affair before he died, I think. I’ll try to find out what it was called and let you all know. It will make interesting reading.

What has really troubled me over the years though as a police officer, is the issue of pilot, Captain Jim Collins’ ring binder notebook, which was located amongst the wreckage and handed to me on the site. It was intact and contained numerous pages of legible technical writing and figures that indicated they related to the flying of aircraft. We recognised that this could be of importance to any investigation into the crash, and I sealed and secured it in a bag before it was returned to McMurdo.

The ring binder was later produced in 1981 at the Commission of Inquiry into the disaster in an altered condition to how it was found, in that the pages were missing. It had earlier been returned to Mrs Collin’s in this condition by an airline official. The reason why and how the pages came to be missing has never been satisfactorily explained or resolved.

G J Gilpin
Inspector, NZ Police
Wellington

One giant cover up???

Be interested to know what the majority of New Zealander’s view on the causes – especially after 30 years to reflect.
Would they generally go with Chippendale or Mahon – or perhaps opinions are very divided?

I remember the original news flash on TV One back in 1979 (I am a New Zealander living in the UK) saying that concern was mounting over a missing ANZ DC10. I was 13 at the time and remember the country seeming to come to a halt as news was awaited.
I also remember the inquiry afterwards and Mr Justice (Peter) Mahon’s celebrated outburst against Air New Zealand’s version of events, ‘An orchestrated litany of lies.’

A superb and revealing website detailing the aftermath of a fatal crash and providing additional details to those provided in the book of the accident.

Fascinating indeed, and should be essential reading for all the armchair accident investigators out there.