Day: April 22, 2012

I read extensively from a number of sources before writing any of the piece serialized over the past few days, and double checked these sources while writing it. Flight 901 is a fascinating topic, perhaps because it was a big deal that we just didn’t hear about on this side of the world, perhaps because of the exotic locales (wait, so we’re going to fly from an island nation that has abundant volcanoes to another continent to look at another volcano there?!?), perhaps because I’m a confessed NZ-phile.

When I first began reading about flight 901, I didn’t have a horse in the race. Ultimately, after reading numerous web sites, articles, and the full Chippindale and Mahon reports, I could personally only reach one conclusion: Captain Collins and his crew were screwed by Air New Zealand. Not because someone was out to kill them – not even remotely. But because there were failures in communication up and down the chain that had become institutionalized – these failures were now standard operating procedure. … Read more

Previously on Scribblings… this week I’ve been writing about Air New Zealand flight TE901, an Antarctic passenger sightseeing flight that crashed into Mt. Erebus on November 28, 1979, killing all aboard. We’ve already looked at the institutional mistakes that were made, and the unfolding tragedy that they caused.

The second investigation of flight 901, known as the Mahon Report, investigated not only the flight and the crash, but the conduct of both Air New Zealand and the principal investigator behind the first report, civil aviation investigator Ron Chippindale. Mahon alleged that Air NZ had quickly shredded documents that would have exposed them to increased liability, and that Chippindale had fallen for the okeydoke without digging deeper. … Read more