Sharp reaction to report

Press, 29 April 1981, Page 6

Sharp reaction to report

NZPA _. London Use of a computer to pre- . pare a flight plan did not absolve an aircraft’s crew from responsibility for the safety of the aircraft while in flight, the “Daily Telegraph's” air correspondent said yesterday. His comment appeared at the end of an extensive report on Mr Justice Mahon’s findings on the Mount Erebus DCIO disaster. The newspaper's report, over nearly two full columns, was headed: “Disaster jet ‘programmed to crash.’” The report of the Commission’s findings was extensively reported in yesterday’s main British newspapers and

was carried on the 8.8.C.’s main television news. “The Times” carried the story over four columns on its front page under the headline, “ ’Litany of lies’ told about the DCIO crash.” The “Guardian” devoted nearly a column to the report on its main overseas news page under the heading, “Antarctic jet crash ‘coverup' charge.” • The "Financial Times” ran the report over three columns on its front page with another story from its Wellington correspondent on an inside page. The tabloid “Daily Mail” carried the story over five columns with pictures under the headline: “Lies! Judge air crash ‘cover-up’. ”