Erebus report

Press, 2 May 1981, Page 14

Erebus report

Sir,. Common decency and business acumen should have made the board and the senior management of Air New Zealand tender their resignations on theypublication of the report: They must realise that Air New Zealand was and is the .competent aircrew and ground'staff, with whom Justice Mahon found no fault. Mr Dalgety assumes the right to waste our :.money and further demoralise company staff by appealing to a higher court. The' Prime Minister sought the resignation of a board member because he was a Rowling man yet refuses to act on Mr justice Mahon’s findings. — Yours, etc., - C. A. BERRY. April 29, 1981. Sir, — I am shocked and sickened to see a disaster such as the Erebus crash being so blatantly used as a weapon by the two leading political parties at what they have judged as an opportune time — election year, With conflicting and contrasting reported comments by investigators both before and after the Royal Commission report it is obvious that the opinions proffered have been done so on the basis of political affiliation and not professional integrity. The United States may well be able to afford such cheap political games as “Watergate”; New Zealand cannot! Instead of mounting a local witch hunt, why can we not deal with this situation professionally and efficiently, making our first priority to see that a disaster of this magnitude is never to be repeated within the boundaries of our airline again. — Yours, etc., KAREN HARRISON. April 30, 1981. Sir, — Regarding the 8.8. C. questions to the Prime Minister, justice must not only be done but seen to be done. For those with political authority in New Zealand this reads: "Justice must never be one but must seem to be done.” To achieve this the due process of law can be carried out, but regardless of the verdict the ■ political authority must always evade blame. There must never be an admission of guilt, or fault, or the acceptance of any verdict that places blame upon anyone associated with the political authority in power. Tom Skinner once said: "You can’t beat the Government.” The Government of New Zealand knows this because it not only has the power to make the laws but can disavow the verdicts of the laws it has made. Politicians are only guilty, on .admission.

So long as they never admit a fault, accept blame and penalties they remain innocent. Regardless of the truth, the Government of/ New Zealand is never wrong; — Yours, etc., L. J. ROBINSON. April .29, 1981. Sir, — When is a captain not a captain? Latest answer: When he is in charge of an aircraft. During my 23 years at sea, nine of them in command, I was taught, that all items of modern navigational equipment were aids only, and in no way diminished or relieved the master of his ultimate responsibility for the safety of the vessel and all therein. If Mr Justice Mahon is correctly reported it now appears that the true control of an aircraft can be with some faceless person in a back room. I find this infinitely more disturbing than the possibility of human error on the part of the pilot. No longer is the friendly voice on the intercom that of the man in command but merely that of the driver. I am sure that thinking members of the Airline Pilots’ Association, while happy over the exoneration of one of their members, will be anything but happy over their new ' diminished status. — Yours, etc., C. M. ANDERSON. April 30, 1981. Sir,—l have 'followed the progress of the Erebus crash inquiries with intense interest as one with an enduring love of flying and I have come to a personal opinion of it based on my own experience. In no way do I minimise. Air New Zealand’s part in the tragedy, but it is accepted that except for mechanical • failure the final responsibility for the safe conduct of any flight rests with the pilot. When flying visually, as Captain Collin’s was in the last stages of the flight, it seems that two criteria must be met. (1) You can see where jou are going; (2) You can determine your, ground position by visual observation. It seems to me that for whatever reason Captain Collins could not comply with these conditions and therefore should not have been where he was at the time of the impact. — Yours, etc., MICHAEL BEAVEN. May 1, 1981. [The Commission’s report says that the aircraft was flown clear of cloud at .all times during its descent. The Commission also found that because of a “clear atmosphere” whiteout, the crew believed they had many miles of flat ice on either side and in front of them. The judge found that the crew also had no reason to question their computerised flight path; they were in fact on the track prescribed and were under no requirement visually to fix their position. — Editor.]