Commission but since the conspiracy to deceive theory that is developed
in the Royal Commission Report apparently stems from the instruction
given by Mr Davis clearly the officers so gravely affected were entitled
to be warned in advance and so be given the opportunity to have such
information fairly and properly considered.


Search at Mt. Erebus

The issue of documentary evidence is given extended attention in a
section of the Report headed, "Post-accident conduct of Air New Zealand"
which is exclusively concerned with suggestions of possible items that
might have been withheld from the Inquiry. The discussion is introduced
at paragraph 342 by a statement that "This instruction by the chief
executive for the collection of all Antarctica documents had some
unfortunate repercussions". The observation is then developed by
reference in particular to the work of Captain Gemmell, the technical
flight manager for Air New Zealand, while assisting Mr Chippindale at
the crash site.

Captain Gemmell had received instructions in the early hours of the
morning of 29th November 1979 to travel to McMurdo in order to assist Mr
Chippindale's investigation into the cause of the accident at the scene.
However, by reason of weather conditions it was not possible for him to
be taken by helicopter to the ice slope until 3 p.m. on 2nd December.
Then, clad in protective clothing and roped to mountaineers, he assisted
in a search for the in-flight recording equipment (consisting of the
cockpit voice recorder and the "black box") and the recovery of any
other equipment or documents which might indicate how the accident had
happened.