And several of us here having looked at all the facts closely, strongly believe that even without the benefit of hindsight, better could reasonably have been expected of Collins (and Cassin) on the day.
You have not looked at
the facts closely enough if you still believe Collins and Cassin have anything to answer for. Taking the book "Daughters of Erebus" to bed with you PapaHotel6 won't give you an insight to too many facts.
I don't blame Air NZ and Muldoon for going after the pilots. A US$40,000 odd payout per passenger's family compared to airline liability US$100 million. The Chippindale report lacked so much credibility. Mahon straightened it out. Even after the appeal the Privy Council delivered two judgements:
The Privy Council upheld Mahon’s view that pilot error was not to blame and that the administrative system of Air New Zealand at the time was insufficiently error-proof. The Privy Council did, however, agree with the Court of Appeal ruling that Mahon had exceeded his terms of reference in his statement that the airline had presented sections of evidence which involved a “pre-determined plan of deception” such that he was forced to say that he had listened to an “orchestrated litany of lies”.
30
and:
Perhaps Mahon’s choice of words too closely linked the administrative errors that led to the changed flight plan with evidence that appeared to indicate its concealment. If Mahon had referred to an “unfortunate catalogue of errors” the Privy Council decision may have been different.
I know you are a big fan of the Privy Council
prospector
I am not sure what prompted Holmes to put pen to paper. Mahon's findings about pilot error, not being a cause, still stands today.(I know not officially acknowledged because of a legal technicality.) The NZ government has erected a memorial to the disaster, apologised to everyone, including the crew's family and hopes everyone will now move on. This request for exoneration baffles me. What are the crew being exonerated from?