Erebus 'cover-up' complaint rejected by BSA

The Broadcasting Standards Authority has rejected a complaint from Erebus air disaster investigator Ron Chippindale about a Television New Zealand programme that described the investigation as the "biggest cover-up" in aviation history.

The authority found that Secret New Zealand, broadcast on September 15, did not deal unfairly with Mr Chippindale's role as chief investigator at the site where the Air New Zealand DC10 crashed on Mt Erebus in 1979.

Mr Chippindale complained the programme was inaccurate, unbalanced and unfair.

The authority said the programme suggested that Mr Chippindale gave "pilot error" as the cause of the accident.

"The authority considers that this is not an unreasonable summary of the report," it said.

Mr Chippindale alleged that the programme said his findings were subject to political interference.

But the authority said it did not suggest this in any way.

It considered Mr Chippindale had misinterpreted the item and he was not dealt with unfairly in the descriptive comments about him.

- NZPA