During this time period , he was the investigator-in-charge of 48 aircraft and rail accidents and incidents , and had overall responsibility for the investigation of approximately 400 accidents and incidents . He was involved in several major aircraft accident investigation such as being the chief investigator of the November 1979 Mount Erebus Disaster , the DC-10 accident in Antarctica in which 257 lives were lost . He was responsible for the official accident report for this disaster and concluded the accident was a result of pilot error . This conclusion was controversial and a Royal Commission was established presided over by Justice Peter Mahon QC . Mahon 's report cleared the crew and blamed the company for altering the programmed flight plan without informing the crew . As part of the report Chippindale was described as having a poor grasp of the flying involved in jet airline operation , as he ( and the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority - CAA in general ) was typically involved in investigating simple light aircraft crashes . Chippindale 's investigation techniques were revealed as lacking in rigour , which allowed errors and avoidable gaps in knowledge to appear in reports . Consequently , Chippindale entirely missed the importance of the flight plan change and the rare meteorological conditions of Antarctica
Mount Erebus Disaster
Air New Zealand Flight 901
Ron Chippindale