Look! this has been done already with Justice Mahon, and Gordon Vette.
You want honesty, you think you will get that from Holmes
It is about time the New Zealand AIA, and perhaps to some degree the NZ government, and Air NZ stand up and formally acknowledge the very real and substantial price these two fine men paid.
We as an industry owe a huge debt to both, your CRM & Human Factors of today to a large degree were born out of this.
There is enough documentation about, for those that want the truth, apply to New Zealand Government Archives for the Chippendale accident report to start.
Then go to your local book sellers and ask for Impact Erebus, by Vette & Mahon.
Then get the findings of the court of inquiry led by Justice Peter Mahon.
To say you want HONESTY,
@#$%me! what do you think these two men did what they did for?
Now as for the times, I remember where I was when this aircraft was first reported overdue, and who I was with.
Rob Muldoon was PM, the CEO of Air NZ Mourie Davis, both these guys where old school mates, and I believe at the time one of them (probably Davis) conspired to cover the details around this issue up.
Through the society of the time, Muldoon himself a friend of Mahons went to Peter Mahon, and asked him to lead an inquiry.
Muldoon probably thought at the time that Davis was not conspiring in any way, when Mahon found out inconsistencies and began to dig deeper, Muldoon and Davis's relationship became strained as Rob felt Davis had let him down.
By now Mahon was into it in depth, and Rob could not stop it, although he tried very hard to discredit Mahon to avert the avalanche of "****e" coming his way.
Muldoon and Mahons relationship to became irreparable & frayed, so much that Mahon could not go into his professional clubs, nor could he even go for a game of golf, such was the anger of Muldoon.
Gordon Vette took a lot of flak from his co-workers.
Two very fine men that stood up to be counted and did not back down against huge political, professional & social odds.
And you think Holmes will give honesty and closure, to say the 257 people are forgotten is a possibility with the younger aviators, but we owe it to them and to the industry to keep it alive through CRM & Human Factors courses for generations to come, and not to allow those that perished to have done so needlessly.
It is factually more open in all its ugliness today than it ever would have been
back then.
As raw today as then.