Using this learning guide
This learning guide is not a downloadable resource to put in front of ākonga. Kaiako should select from the guide and adapt suggested activities as they see fit to meet the needs of their students.
In this learning guide, ākonga will explore:
- Why people say sorry.
- The power and effectiveness of an apology.
The emotional fallout from Erebus
In examining the Erebus accident through a lens of historical empathy (Learning guide 3), we considered the insight of Brett Christmas, who lost his father Frank on Flight TE901. Brett believed that three words – ‘Truth, Justice, and Reconciliation’ summed up the ‘emotional fallout from Erebus’.
Inquiry: Concept circles
Concept circles – UThink (PDF, 332KB)
A concept circle is a visual organiser used to practise new vocabulary or explore a concept. Concept circles help students understand the meanings of words by asking them to consider how a group of words are related. They are a helpful strategy for building vocabulary.
Consider how you might use a concept circle with ākonga to help them:
- Brainstorm the meaning of the concepts truth, justice and reconciliation.
- Talk about what synonyms or other words could be used to describe what ‘truth’, ‘justice’ and ‘reconciliation’ might look like.
Searching for answers
At the core of the ‘emotional fallout’ from the Erebus accident is the debate that has raged over who or what was at fault. The initial inquiry into the accident conducted by the chief inspector of air accidents attributed the disaster to pilot error (Chippindale report). The subsequent Commission of Inquiry placed the blame on Air New Zealand and its systems (Mahon report).
Inquiry: Investigations into the Erebus accident
The 1979 Erebus crash – Te Ara The Encyclopedia of New Zealand
Flight 901 – The Erebus Disaster – NZ On Screen
The Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) Transcript Controversy – New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association
White silence podcast (Episodes 2, 3 and 4) – Stuff/RNZ
Examining the details of both investigations is quite a complex undertaking, especially for younger ākonga. Consider reading strategies that will help students summarise the main points of each investigation and report.
Once you have selected the sources from the above list that best suit the needs of your class, divide the class into small groups to investigate the findings in the Chippindale report and the Mahon report. Each group should:
- Write a list of key words/ideas your group doesn’t understand, or that need to be explored further.
- List evidence your group believe was put forward by Ron Chippindale, chief inspector of air accidents, to support his conclusions as to the main cause of the accident?
- Consider how the findings in the Mahon report made some of those most closely associated with the accident feel.
- Explain how the findings in the Chippindale or Mahon reports made them feel.
- Highlight questions that they think Chippindale or the Royal Comission did not answer.
Captain's diary
Erebus part 3: A very important document – NZ Police
It was made clear to Constable Stu Leighton and the other members of the Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) Squad involved in Operation Overdue that their mission was not to gather evidence. His colleague Sergeant Greg Gilpin noted that they were not to treat the crash site ‘as a crime scene, as it probably would be [treated] today.’ However, when Stu Leighton found a ring-binder with Captain Jim Collins’ name on the cover, he realised it could be a very important document. Leighton was certain it contained flight data – ‘I knew what I had.’ Gilpin also recognised the importance of this discovery. The question of what happened to this ring-binder after it was removed from the site remains controversial.
Inquiry: The ring-binder
Ākonga could use this information about the discovery of Captain Collins’ ring-binder to answer the following questions:
- Why do you think Stu Leighton felt Captain Collins’ ring-binder ‘could be a very important document’?
- What did Stu Leighton and Greg Gilpin do with Captain Collins’ ring-binder when they found it?
- Why do you think neither Gilpin nor Leighton were interviewed by crash investigators or called to give evidence at any point?
- Why do you think pages were removed from this ring-binder before it was received by the Royal Commission of Inquiry?
Inquiry: Cause of the accident
Having looked at both investigations into the cause of the Erebus accident, get ākonga to reflect on the following questions:
- What do you think was the most likely cause of the accident?
- Why do you think this?
1999: Tabling the Mahon report
When a report is ‘tabled’ in Parliament it is literally placed on the table in front of the Speaker of the House, effectively placing it before Parliament for consideration. The government of the day did not table the Mahon report at the time of its release in 1981. It was not tabled until 1999. This was unusual. It meant that until 1999 the report of the Office of Air Accident Investigations (Chippindale report) was the sole official account of the cause of the Erebus accident.
Any blame for the accident levelled at Air New Zealand could also be levelled at the government, which owned the airline. The government was also concerned about the risk of reputational damage to the national carrier if it was found to be primarily at fault for the accident. This would raise the very real prospect of protracted and expensive litigation resulting in substantial compensation payments to the bereaved families.
Many of those who had lost loved ones in the accident felt they were left in limbo because of the government’s apparent unwillingness to recognise the key findings of the Mahon report. The passage of time didn’t make things any easier.
Inquiry: Mahon report recognised by government
Erebus report finally recognised – Beehive.govt.nz
Ākonga could use document above relating to tabling of the Mahon report to answer the following questions:
- Why do you think it took nearly 20 years until the Mahon report was tabled before Parliament?
- In tabling the Mahon report in 1999, Transport Minister Maurice Williamson called Justice Mahon ‘one of New Zealand’s true heroes.’ Why do you think he described Mahon in this way?
- Do you agree with Minister Williamson’s assertion that, 20 years after the accident, it was now too late to apportion blame for it?
- Was the tabling of the Mahon report in 1999 a missed opportunity for the government and Air New Zealand to apologise for the accident?
2009: ‘I can't undo what has been done but…’
At the unveiling of this sculpture, Momentum, marking significant events in Air New Zealand’s history, the airline’s chief executive, Rob Fyfe, apologised to those the airline had let down in the aftermath of the Erebus accident. He conceded that Air New Zealand had ‘made mistakes and undoubtedly let down people directly affected by the tragedy’.
I can't turn the clock back; I can't undo what has been done but as I look forward, I'd like to start the next step of that journey by saying sorry. Sorry to all of those who suffered the loss of a loved one or were affected by the Erebus tragedy and did not receive the support and compassion that they should have from Air New Zealand.
Rob Fyfe
Prime Minister John Key was also present. He stated that while ‘we cannot bring them back, we can honour these brave and true people and we can learn from our past.’
For many, this apology did not go far enough. There was no acceptance that Air New Zealand or the government had any responsibility for the accident. Maria Collins, the wife of Captain Jim Collins, the pilot of Flight TE901, told the media that she still hoped to clear her husband’s name. Her daughter, Kathryn Carter, said Air New Zealand had handled the situation very badly after the crash. ‘It has been a hard 30 years for us’, in part because of a ‘culture of blame that had seen the crew … blamed for the accident…. this wouldn't happen today.’
Inquiry: Air New Zealand apology
As a class, discuss the following questions:
- What journey do you think Rob Fyfe was referring to?
- Why do you think Prime Minister John Key referred to those killed at Erebus as ‘brave and true’?
- What lessons do you think Key might have thought there were to be learned from the Erebus accident?
- Do you think Air New Zealand and the government missed an opportunity in 2009 to offer a fuller apology to the bereaved families? Why do you think this?
2019: ‘The time has come to apologise.’
Prime Minster Delivers Erebus Apology – Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage
White Silence podcast: The Apology – Stuff/RNZ
Government apologies – Te Akomanga
In 2019, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern told a gathering of family members that ‘after forty years, on behalf of today’s government, the time has come to apologise for the actions of an airline then in full state ownership, which ultimately caused the loss of the aircraft and the loss of those you loved.’
Dame Therese Walsh, chair of Air New Zealand, acknowledged that the airline had failed ‘in its duty of care to its passengers and staff’, and that ‘better care should have been taken of you’.
Inquiry: The apology
Ask ākonga to reflect on the 2019 government apology. In their opinion:
- Did the apology achieve 'truth, justice, and reconciliation' in relation to the Erebus accident?
- What words or phrases from the apologies of Jacinda Ardern and Therese Walsh support your answer?
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