Then he was cross-examined by counsel for the Association whose witness
he had been earlier. He was asked about Captain Gemmell's work at the
actual scene of the disaster and his explanation about that matter is
reflected in the following question and answer:
"Did you see Capt. Gemmell at any time in the cockpit area or
thereabouts working on his own.... I qualified that before. Working
on your own is a relative term. At all stages there would be
somebody adjacent for your own safety and well-being. I did not at
any stage see Ian Gemmell Capt. Gemmell or Ian Wood or David Graham
in total isolation in any part of the wreckage."
Then there is mention of material that may have been returned by Captain
Gemmell to New Zealand--
"You heard question the other day concerning Capt. Gemmell
returning from McMurdo with an envelope containing property can you
tell us about that.... At the stage that Capt. Gemmell was
returning to N.Z. he was asked by the Chief Inspector of Accidents
if he would return to N.Z. with one or more envelopes I cannot
recall how many containing photos and perhaps other information to
be used in the conduct of the inquiry at a later date but
specifically at that early date the intention was for Capt. Gemmell
to brief the Minister and the Dir. of CAD and senior execs, of Air
N.Z. as to what had transpired at that early date in the
investigation. As Mr Chippindale would be staying in the Ant. and
the remainder of his team would be with him or else in the US.
What about private property.... The envelopes which Capt. Gemmell
return to N.Z. with may have contained some documentation from the
crash site which was beginning to return in significant quantities
from the various people on the crash site including the police."
The following portion of the cross-examination then refers to documents
described as "the technical crews flying records, the collection of log
books, licences and other relevant documentation". He said that at first
there was reluctance on the part of Air New Zealand to release this
material "as it was not clear at that stage in many peoples minds what
my duties were". It was not immediately appreciated that he was acting
on Mr Chippindale's behalf. He was then asked--
"And Air N.Z. and Capt. Gemmell released to you the material which
you'd previously sought.... Correct".
Concerning all this evidence the Commissioner expressed the following
conclusions in paragraph 348:
"Captain Eden is at present the director of flight operations for
the airline. He appeared in the witness box to be a strong-minded
and aggressive official. It seemed clear from this further
production of First Officer Rhodes as a witness that it had been
suggested to him by Captain Eden that he should either make a
direct allegation against Captain Gemmell or else make no
allegation at all, and that since First Officer Rhodes seemed to
have no direct evidence in his possession, he was therefore obliged
to give the answer which Captain Eden had either suggested or
directed. However, First Officer Rhodes was not entirely
intimidated because as will be observed from the evidence just
quoted, he insisted on saying that Captain Gemmell had brought an
envelope containing documents back to Auckland."
Those statements are in no way related to the assessment of Captain
Eden's evidence or as Captain Eden as a witness. They are observations
that Captain Eden had attempted to influence or direct the evidence to
be given by First Officer Rhodes by a process of intimidation. Counsel
for First Officer Rhodes' own association had made no suggestion to that
effect. Nor is there any hint by First Officer Rhodes himself that he
was present as anything but a voluntary witness. The answer he gave to
the opening question would not seem to support suspicions of
intimidation. And that answer is itself followed by quite a generous
tribute to Captain Gemmell. But the reputation of Captain Eden and the
support given Captain Gemmell is dismissed by a finding of intimidation.
It should be said as well that although Captain Eden himself appeared to
give evidence three days later not a word was said to him by anybody to
suggest that earlier he had been guilty of attempting to intimidate a
witness.