direct exposure to the oral evidence, which he had. So we have to be
very cautious in forming opinions on fact where there is any room for
different interpretations of the evidence.

Having stressed those limitations on the role of this Court, we think it
best to state immediately in general terms the conclusions that we have
reached in this case. Then we will go on to explain the background, the
issues and our reasoning in more detail. Our general conclusion is that
the paragraph in the report (377) in which the Commissioner purported to
find that there had been 'a pre-determined plan of deception' and 'an
orchestrated litany of lies' was outside his jurisdiction and contained
findings made contrary of natural justice. For these reasons we hold
that there is substance in the complaints made by the airline and the
individuals. Because of those two basic defects, an injustice has been
done, and to an extent that is obviously serious. It follows that the
Court must quash the penal order for costs made by the Commissioner
against Air New Zealand reflecting the same thinking as paragraph 377.


The Disaster

In 1977 Air New Zealand began a series of non-scheduled sightseeing
flights to the Antarctic with DC10 aircraft. The flights left and
returned to New Zealand within the day and without touching down en
route. The southernmost point of the route, at which the aircraft turned
round, was to be at about the latitude of the two scientific bases,
Scott Base (New Zealand) and McMurdo Station (United States), which lie
about two miles apart, south of Ross Island. On Ross Island there are
four volcanic mountains, the highest being Mount Erebus, about 12,450
feet. To the west of Ross Island is McMurdo Sound, about 40 miles long