Justice Peter Mahon papers.

Peter Thomas Mahon was born in Christchurch on 1 November 1923 and attended St Mary's Primary School and St Bede's College, Christchurch. He began studying law in 1940 at the University of Canterbury but put his studies on hold to enlist with the New Zealand Army. He served during WWII with the 36th Battalion in Italy and for a time in Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Forces.

Following the war, Mahon returned to University and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws in 1947. He was admitted to the bar that same year and joined the firm Raymond, Stringer, Hamilton and Donnelly. Among the first of Mahon's high profile cases was the 1954 Parker-Hulme murder trial in which he served as junior prosecution counsel.

He was a Christchurch Crown solicitor from 1957 to 1962 and conducted three appeals before the Privy Council's judiciary committee and subsequently was made a Queen's Counsel in 1971. The following year he was sworn in as a Supreme Court judge.

In 1980 he was appointed as Royal Commissioner to inquire into the cause of the November 1979 Air New Zealand DC-10 plane crash into the slopes of Mount Erebus during an Antarctic sightseeing tour. All 257 passengers and crew aboard the flight were killed. It was to be an event that had a lasting impact on Mahon and his career.

After the release of an accident report by Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, Ron Chippindale, which cited pilot error as the probable cause, Commission hearings began on 7 July 1980. They included 52 witnesses, 3083 pages of evidence, 284 documentary exhibits and 368 pages of closing submissions. Mahon’s report was submitted 16 April 1981 and was released to the public on 27 April.

In the report Mahon contradicted Chippindale’s earlier findings and instead asserted that administrative and technical errors made by Air New Zealand were to blame. He also claimed that during the Commission the airline had conspired to cover up the role it had played in the disaster.

Mahon’s findings prompted swift outrage from both Air New Zealand and Prime Minister Robert Muldoon. Amidst the fallout from the report Air New Zealand CEO Morrie Davis resigned. Alongside Air New Zealand and Captain Ian Gemmell, Davis later initiated a case against Mahon in the Court of Appeal for breaching ‘natural justice’.

Hearings for the Court of Appeal took place in October 1981. The Court overturned Mahon’s findings regarding Air New Zealand’s attempt to cover up errors made by their staff and determined that he had exceeded his jurisdiction. As a result, Mahon decided to retire from the High Court bench.

Mahon went on to challenge the judgment at the Privy Council in London in July 1983. After some deliberation the judges determined that although his findings on the crash still stood his appeal was dismissed and the Court of Appeal ruling was upheld.

Despite this, between 1983 and 1985, Mahon worked on writing a book detailing his involvement with the Erebus Disaster. Titled Verdict on Erebus: an airline’s dilemma it was published in 1985 and garnered good reviews.

A year after his book was published Mahon died on 11 August 1986. He was survived by his wife Margarita Mahon, and their three children, Sam, Tim and Janet.

Sources:

Boelinke, G. (2007). Sculpture of Hon. Peter Mahon QC in the Davis Law Library in Eden Crescent, Faculty of Law Annual 2006-2007. Retrieved from https://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/law/about/news/eden-crescent/documents/edencres2007.pdf.

'Court action following Erebus disaster inquiry', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/media/photo/ongoing-debate-about-erebus-disaster, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 15-Jul-2013.

New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association. The Erebus story. Retrieved from: http://erebus.co.nz.

Mahon, P. (1985). Verdict on Erebus. Auckland, N.Z. : Fontana Paperbacks.

Romanos, J. (2012). New Zealand’s top 100 history-makers. Wellington, N.Z. : Trio Books.

Further reading:

Mahon, P. (1985). Dear Sam. Auckland, N.Z. : Fontana/Collins.

Mahon, S. (2008). My father’s shadow : A portrait of Justice Peter Mahon. Dunedin, N.Z. : Longacre Press.

28 November 1979 - Air New Zealand Flight TE901 crashes into the slopes of Mount Erebus, Antarctica, killing all 257 people on board.

21 April 1980 - Peter Mahon is appointed Royal Commissioner by the Muldoon Government to further investigate the cause of the accident.

23 June 1980 - Ron Chippindale, Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, releases his report determining pilot error as the primary cause of the accident.

7 July 1980 - Royal Commission hearings begin.

27 April 1981 - Justice Mahon's report is released to the public, contradicting Chippindale's earlier findings and accusing Air New Zealand of perjury.

4 May 1981 - Air New Zealand Chief Executive, Morrie Davis, resigns.

October 1981 - Judicial review of Justice Mahon's findings is undertaken in the Court of Appeal.

December 1981 - Court of Appeal delivers judgement in which Justice Mahon is found to have breached 'natural justice' and his findings against Air New Zealand are overturned.

January 1982 - Justice Mahon resigns from the High Court bench.

July 1983 - The Privy Council hears Mahon's appeal against the Court of Appeal judgement.

October 1983 - The Privy Council judges determines that the Court of Appeal judgement still stands.