Judgments of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand on Proceedings to Review Aspects of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Mount Erebus Aircraft Disaster: C.A. 95/81New Zealand. Court of Appeal
History
Judgments of the Court of Appeal of New Zealand on Proceedings to Review Aspects of the Report of the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Mount Erebus Aircraft Disaster: C.A. 95/81
New Zealand. Court of Appeal
Air New Zealand; Aircraft accidents; New Zealand. Royal Commission to Inquire into the Crash on Mount Erebus, Antarctica, of a DC10 Aircraft Operated by Air New Zealand Limited
The variation in the computer _after the crew of the DC10 had been
briefed_ (as Mr Chippindale realized) is the matter which is mentioned
by the Commissioner in paragraph 44 and which in paragraph 45 is offered
as the motive for what is there described as an immediate decision by
the chief executive that no word of the matter was to become publicly
known, with documents to be impounded and others destroyed. This
information was given into Mr Chippindale's hands by Air New Zealand in
a written statement on the day following his return from the crash site
in Antarctica.
The Chippindale report then states in paragraph 3.6 that the computer
error had remained in the flight plans for some fourteen months. Then it
is said:
"3.7 Some diagrams and maps issued at the route qualification
briefing could have been misleading in that they depicted a track
which passed to the true west of Ross Island over a sea level ice
shelf, whereas the flight planned track passed to the east over
high ground reaching to 12450 feet AMSL.
3.8 The briefing conducted by Air New Zealand Limited contained
omissions and inaccuracies which had not been detected by either
earlier participating aircrews or the supervising Airline
Inspectors."
So these various matters (also mentioned by the Commissioner) were well
within Mr Chippindale's knowledge. However he came to a final conclusion
that pilot error had been involved as a probable cause of the accident
while the Commissioner (who decided this was an incorrect finding) was
satisfied instead that the cause of the accident was not pilot error at
all. He said:
"393. In my opinion therefore, the single dominant and effective
cause of the disaster was the mistake made by those airline
officials who programmed the aircraft to fly directly at Mt. Erebus
and omitted to tell the aircrew. That mistake is directly
attributable, not so much to the persons who made it, but to the
incompetent administrative airline procedures which made the
mistake possible.
394. In my opinion, neither Captain Collins nor First Officer
Cassin nor the flight engineers made any error which contributed to
the disaster, and were not responsible for its occurrence."
Jurisdiction to Review
Several important questions arise in this case. Is there jurisdiction in
the Courts to review in such a context as this taking into account the
ambit of ss. 3 and 4 of the Judicature Amendment Act 1972? And if there
is such power is it by reason of the award of costs in this case? Or on
grounds relating to excess of jurisdiction on the part of the
Commissioner? Or considerations of natural justice? Or by reference to
all three of those matters? For the reasons that follow we are satisfied
that the findings are reviewable and that each one of those three
matters is properly within the scope of the Court's jurisdiction.
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