We are debating 40 years on because, there were indeed a "chain of poor decisions" but as Mahon discovered, not all were Captain Collins. As Air New Zealand et al were trying to force issue with the public on.
I can understand Air New Zealand and the New Zealand government's surprise and horror at the findings in Mahon's final report but to carry on like a couple of petulant children after the fact is actually disturbing to any professional airline pilot.
To refresh our memories:
“The palpably false sections of evidence which I heard could not have been the result of mistake, or faulty recollection. They originated, I am compelled to say, in a pre-determined plan of deception. They were very clearly part of an attempt to conceal a series of disastrous administrative blunders and so… I am forced reluctantly to say that I had to listen to an orchestrated litany of lies.”
Disgusting!