Some personal recollections which adds nothing to who was right or wrong in this tragedy and makes no judgements either way.
I had just finished my first marathon and was at the after race function when the provosts turned up and ordered us all down to a hangar. A couple of C130's were backed up to the doors and piles of survival gear and body bags on the hangar floor. We were told to size ourselves up for a survival suit and standby but not told why. News came through that an ANZ DC-10 was overdue in Antartica and we were going down on a SAR flight leaving within an hour (which I was not looking forward to, I could hardly walk after the marathon and sitting in a C130 para seat would not have been an optimal recovery).
About 2 hours later word came through the DC-10 had been found and no survivors and that NZ Police SAR would take over. I had a friend who had recently joined the Police and he ended up down there doing the recovery (and which he suffered for years afterwards from).
30 years on and it remains as vivid now as it was then. I seem to recall that ANZ had not had a fatality up until this accident (although NAC was not so lucky) and that they had commissioned an advertisement with Allan Wicker stating this fact which aired a few weeks beforehand. The look on Morrie Davis face when the journalist asked him how felt in that evenings news bulleting remains etched in my memory as does his response.
It is right to discuss these matters as it honours the memories of those who perished and the families left behind. May they rest in peace.