Erebus pilot's family seek justice

BY ANNA CHALMERS

The wife of the pilot who flew the ill-fated Air NZ Erebus flight laid a complaint with police alleging key evidence was mishandled at the crash site.

Captain Jim Collins' ringbinder was found by police on the slopes of Mt Erebus in the days following the November 28, 1979, crash which killed all 257 people on board.

The notebook is believed to have contained pages of co-ordinates relating to the Antarctic flight path, which - unbeknown to the pilots - had been changed just before departure.

An inquiry was launched following Maria Collins' complaint. The findings were released last year and Mrs Collins has labelled the inquiry a "whitewash".

» Read details of the complaint and inquiry here

In the October, 2007, complaint - to Police Commissioner Howard Broad - the Collins family's lawyer, Paul Davison QC, argued there was "prima facie evidence that some person, or persons, deliberately withheld or destroyed" the notebook's information.

"[This] would appear to have intended to influence, mislead and pervert the course of justice...," his letter to Mr Broad says.

Mr Davison said that, while considerable time had lapsed since the crash, "the issue remains one of grave importance".

When Mr Collin's notebook was returned to Mrs Collins, all of its loose-leaf pages were missing.

This meant two separate investigations into the accident were never able to examine its contents, which supporters believe would have provided further evidence that the crew had no idea they were flying towards the 3795 metre mountain.

The findings from both investigations - one by Civil Aviation which largely blamed the crew and a Commission of Inquiry which attributed the accident to a change in co-ordinates by the airline - have been hugely controversial since.

Detective Superintendent Malcolm Burgess completed the investigation last year and found that, while it was likely the notebook's pages were removed or dislodged - which he believed happened before the notebook reached McMurdo base in Antarctica, it was "not possible to determine with certainty how that might have happened".

Mrs Collins said she was disappointed the complaint and subsequent investigations "came to nothing".

"I consider it was a whitewash. But then it's very difficult after 28 years to tell who told the truth and who didn't because too much time had lapsed."

It comes as the victims' families prepare to mark the 30th anniversary of the disaster next Saturday, November 28, with memorial services in Auckland and Christchurch.

Mrs Collins said there were many unanswered questions relating to the tragedy which the family still wanted resolved, including a haunting burglary at their home where nothing of value was stolen but a photograph of Mr Collins was ripped in two.

ON THE MOUNTAIN

Police Inspector Greg Gilpin, one of the officers in charge of body recovery teams on Erebus, said he placed Mr Collin's notebook in a sealed plastic bag and put it in an area with other recovered items of interest for return to McMurdo.

When he last saw the notebook, "it was intact and contained numerous pages of legible technical writing and figures that indicated to me they related to the flying of aircraft".

He has been haunted by the pages disappearance since he later discovered it had been presented, in an altered condition with its pages missing, to a Royal Commission of Inquiry investigating the accident.

Mr Gilpin believed that, if the complete notebook had been presented, it may have further evidence to assist the Commission of Inquiry.

"It's troubled me for 28 years," Mr Gilpin said. "The injustice of the whole thing. I've been more effected by this than the body recovery."

POLICE RESPONSE

In his recent report, Mr Burgess said he believed no Air New Zealand personnel were present on the crash site when the notebook was found and "there is no evidence they had improper access to the notebook thereafter".

But Mr Davison has challenged this in a subsequent letter to Mr Burgess, saying the assertion that no Air New Zealand staff were present was "speculative".

"The disappearance of the latitude/longitude pages from the notebook could only be the result of deliberate interference motivated by an intention to remove and destroy any evidence."

Mr Burgess told Stuff.co.nz that he rejected allegations the inquiry was a "whitewash".

He spoke to a number of people around the country, all of whom were keen to assist, but the time lapse had hampered recollection.

The notebook was tracked through defined timeframes, but police found no evidence of an attempt to pervert the course of justice, he said.

"It was an investigation done in good faith. We gave it our best shot and came a little bit closer but we couldn't solve the mystery."

- © Fairfax NZ News