![]() ![]() ![]() Mahon also claimed that the airline's executives and management pilots had engaged in a conspiracy to whitewash the enquiry, accusing them of covering up evidence and misleading investigators through ‘an orchestrated litany of lies’. Instead he laid the blame squarely on Air New Zealand. He disagreed with Chippindale's 'probable cause' that the pilot was at fault, and cleared the crew of any responsibility for the accident. But he then went on to describe a single cause of the disaster. He asserted that in this case there were 10 factors, and the disaster would not have occurred had any of them not been present. In a section summarising 'the cause of the disaster', Mahon argued that 'the occurrence of any accident was normally due to the existence of a variety of factors'. His report was submitted on 16 April 1981 and released publicly on 27 April. At the conclusion of the public hearings he had 3083 pages of evidence, 284 documentary exhibits and 368 pages of closing submissions to review. Mahon had been due to make his report to the Governor-General by 31 October, but he was granted four extensions to this deadline. In addition to hearing evidence in New Zealand, Mahon travelled to the US and UK. Other witnesses called during the 75 sitting days included employees of Air New Zealand, CAD and the New Zealand Meteorological Service, and members of the pilots' families. He was asked to expand on various aspects of his report and cross-examined by legal counsel. ![]() ![]() Chippindale was the first of 52 witnesses examined. The public hearings of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the accident began as scheduled on 7 July 1980. But Chippindale ultimately concluded that the flight would have proceeded safely had the pilot not descended below the minimum safe altitudes specified by CAD and Air New Zealand. Criticism was directed at Air New Zealand and the Civil Aviation Division (CAD) for these and other failures. These other factors included 'omissions and inaccuracies' in the route qualification briefing. His report indicated what he thought was the 'probable cause - the last thing that made the accident inevitable' − but other factors had led up to the accident. In the days prior to the release, Chippindale advised the media that he had had difficulty finding 'the ultimate cause'. But the government went ahead and released the report at midnight on 19 June. The public hearings were subsequently set down to begin on 7 July, with a preparatory hearing on 23 June.Ī number of parties protested against the planned release of Chippindale's final report in advance of these hearings. On 21 April Justice Peter Mahon was appointed to conduct the inquiry. The Attorney-General, Jim McLay, subsequently announced that there would be a Royal Commission of Inquiry. He refused to reveal who these parties were, on the grounds that doing so would indicate the report's findings.Ĭalls for a public inquiry, which had begun shortly after the accident, continued amid the controversy over who had received Chippindale's interim report. On 4 March 1980 the interim accident report was sent to parties whom Chippindale considered might bear 'some degree of responsibility for the accident'. Chippindale's enquiries also took him to the United States and the United Kingdom in late December 1979 and early January 1980. Ron Chippindale's report The Chippindale reportĪfter the site investigation in Antarctica was complete, Ron Chippindale and his investigators returned to New Zealand to continue their work. ![]()
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