354. The Royal New Zealand Air Force helicopter pilot who flew the
property from the crash site to McMurdo remembered either one or
two crew flight bags being placed aboard his helicopter, and he
said that they were then flown by him to McMurdo. This was
independently confirmed by the loadmaster of the helicopter, who
recollected seeing the flight bags. The senior sergeant of Police
in charge of the McMurdo store was spoken to, and he recollected
either one or two flight bags among other property awaiting packing
for return to New Zealand. He said that personnel from Air New
Zealand had access to the store, as well as the chief inspector,
and the senior sergeant said that he thought that he had given the
flight bags to the chief inspector and that the chief inspector was
the sole person to whom he had released any property. The chief
inspector was then interviewed on 11 December 1980 by telephone,
being at that time in Australia, but he said that no flight bags
were ever handed to him.
...

359. The following facts seemed to emerge:

(1) The two flight bags were lodged in the Police store at McMurdo
and would have been returned in due course to Mrs Collins and Mrs
Cassin by the Police. But they were taken away from the store by
someone and have not since been seen.
...

These paragraphs followed a discussion by the Commissioner of a
submission by counsel for the Pilots Association that a number of
documents which would have tended to support the proposition that
Captain Collins had relied upon the incorrect co-ordinates had not been