Not helpful to denigrate or suggest invidious comparisons as to relative degrees of acumen, impartiality or profoundly imbued integrity. . . . or moreover to imply that these two are not worthy of the respectful recognition they have been accorded.
2009 - Hon. Justice Peter T. Mahon (Posthumously)
Justice Peter Thomas Mahon QC received the 2009 Jim Collins Award for his exceptional contribution to aviation safety. Justice Mahon’s controversial 1981 Royal Commission of Inquiry report into the 1979 Erebus air accident in Antarctica, cited organisational failure, ‘administration errors made by the Navigation Division’, as the primary factor of the accident, and exonerated the pilots from the blame that was apportioned to them in the 1980 Chippindale Report.
1991 - Captain Alwyn Gordon Vette
Nominations drew attention to Captain Vette’s coordination and command of a rescue mission in the Pacific which earned him the Johnston memorial Award from the Guild of Air Pilots and the President’s Award from the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, his independent research into the causes of the Erebus accident, his publication and production of a book and video on the Erebus disaster (
Impact Erebus) – proceeds from which go to the Captain A G Vette Flight Safety Research Fund, his assistance to students working on aviation safety matters, his continuing contribution to areas of ergonomics and human factors in flight safety and his active membership of the New Zealand Psychological Society – specialising in aviation psychology. Gordon was the recipient of a Presidential Citation from the International Federation of Airline Pilots' Associations at their annual conference in Auckland, March 2009.
Captain Vette is also now deceased - RIP -
http://www.nzedge.com/news/hero-skie...on-vette-dies/