Police officer at centre of deadly Erebus plane crash mystery has died

Wednesday, 1 December 2021

Maria Collins, the wife of captain Jim Collins, recounts the moment she was told about the Erebus disaster.

The policeman at the centre of one New Zealand’s biggest mysteries has died, aged 75.

In 1979, the then-Sergeant Greg Gilpin was in charge of the police team that recovered the 257 people killed when an Air New Zealand scenic flight crashed into Mt Erebus in Antarctica.

Gilpin endured harsh conditions, including a severe blizzard, and found the captain's ring binder, which was believed to contain crucial flight data.

The crash was subsequently investigated by a Royal Commission, headed by Justice Peter Mahon.

* How Air New Zealand staff needed to bind together after Erebus tragedy

Inspector Greg Gilpin, in 2006, with the New Zealand Special Services Medal (Erebus). It was to be presented to those who assisted in the recovery of bodies after an Air New Zealand plane crashed into Mt Erebus.

* A sense of 'relief' from Erebus families after Jacinda Ardern's heartfelt apology

* In full: Prime Minster Jacinda Ardern's Erebus apology

Constable Cazna Makirere, left, and Inspector Greg Gilpin in Manners Mall in 2004.

* Erebus: NZ's gigantic, unresolved mess

* The Detail: Erebus and the 'orchestrated litany of lies'

When the ring binder was presented to the commission, it was empty and material Gilpin and another policeman, Constable Stu Leighton, had seen, was gone.

Justice Mahon subsequently made his famous remark that he had been subjected to “an orchestrated litany of lies” and that Air New Zealand executives had misled him.

Gilpin contacted Justice Peter Mahon, pictured, to tell him he had seen the documents in Captain Jim Collins’ logbook and had carefully bagged it to preserve it. The documents subsequently went missing.

Although an earlier report had concluded the crew were to blame, Mahon concluded the cause of the crash was the reprogramming of the aircraft's navigation computer.

Gilpin became aware of the missing documents only after seeing a documentary, and contacted Mahon to tell him he had seen the original material.

As an experienced police officer, he had realised the material’s importance and had been careful to bag it and send it to McMurdo Station for safe keeping.

It has never conclusively been proved who removed the notes from the logbook, or for what purpose.

Shortly after he retired, in an article in Police News, Gilpin said he believed it was an Air New Zealand employee.

His actions were greatly appreciated by the family of the captain of the Air New Zealand flight, Jim Collins, who bore the brunt of the blame for the crash.

When Gilpin retired in 2011 after 46 years, the Collins family attended and the captain’s widow, Maria, thanked Gilpin publicly.

Gilpin said at the time he was disappointed the documents had disappeared. “Stu and I know what we saw in the ring binder.”

He said Collins was not to blame for the crash and should be completely exonerated.

The Erebus crash was not the only major event Gilpin was involved with during his police career. He helped land survivors from the Wahine sinking in April 1968 and played a leading role in assisting passengers of the Russian cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov, which sunk in February 1986.

In the 1970s, Gilpin was twice threatened with a knife and once, on a callout, an offender held a gas-powered pistol to his head. He held the role of Wellington area commander for four years and when he retired was New Zealand’s longest serving police officer.

Among those who paid tribute to Gilpin at his retirement Rob Fyfe, then the CEO of Air New Zealand.

“You have carried a heavy burden as a result of your association with Erebus but have always acted with integrity, professionalism and compassion throughout the subsequent years,” Fyfe said at the time.

Gilpin was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Police in 2005 and awarded the Erebus Medal in 2007.

His funeral is on December 4.