Originally Posted by
ampan
Originally Posted by
Airbubba
Did this letter somehow mysteriously reappear on the world wide web before dinnertime? Any idea of the provenance of this alleged letter from Judge Mahon? Was it published by the recipient? Or the Collins family?
I don't think the letter was "taken down" briefly. More likely, I simply could not find it again - but when I did I copied the video, got a screenshot, and typed it out word for word on this thread. You will see that that the letter was sent to Sgt Gilpin by Mahon in 1983. It was effectively published by Gilpin this week, in the podcost, when he read it out load and held it up to the camera.
Thanks for taking the time to type the letter into this discussion. Of course, as some have pointed out, even if Air New Zealand had a coordinated effort to remove evidence exculpatory to the pilots it doesn't mean that they were blameless in the mishap.
If they were really visual, how did they not see Mount Erebus? They thought they were approaching McMurdo Station in the descent to 1500 feet but didn't have TACAN, VHF comms or radar contact. Also, the mountain should have painted on weather radar. I'm obviously raising these questions as a pilot, not as a politician or grieving family member.