information forms the basis for the data required to produce the computerised flight plan.  So that finally when a print-out of the plan is obtained it will disclose not merely the geographical co-ordinates for each waypoint but the true track direction and the distance in nautical miles from one to the next.  That last information is needed prior to a flight departure in order to calculate tonnages of fuel during the prospective journey and accordingly as a flight proceeds it enables the quantity of fuel already consumed to be checked against the anticipated consumption in the flight plan print-out.  Thus the precise track and distance is used for purposes of fuel calculations and has importance as a check in navigation.

All this information is disclosed on page 96 of the Royal Commission Report where the print-out is shown for the flight plan with the co-ordinates for McMurdo showing the longitude as 164 deg. 48’ east.  In the next column the track direction is given as 188.9 deg. (grid) and the distance between Cape Hallett and McMurdo as 337 miles.  On the facing page 97 there is a print-out of the flight plan actually used on the fatal flight which shows the correction made to the longitude, 166 deg. 58’ east.  It will shortly be mentioned that when that correction was made the navigation section say it was thought to involve a minor movement of only 2.1 miles or 10 minutes of longitude.  Despite the very small change that this could make to the track and distance between the two points a re-calculation was made and entered into the computer programme as 188.5 deg. (grid) and the distance 336 miles.  Compared with the other figures the difference seems minimal but it was still thought necessary to assess it and it was done.

The Western Waypoint

The circumstances surrounding the use of the 164 deg. 48’ E figures were in issue before the Royal Commission.  It was suggested against the airline they had not been introduced accidentally:  that the movement of the position 25 miles to the west had been deliberate.  If that were so it would seem that a re-calculation of track and distance would have been needed and made both for the fuel plan and also as a check for purposes of navigation.  However, no re-calculation of track and distance was made and entered with the 164 deg. 48’ co-ordinate.  The figures which actually appear for track and distance to that point remain precisely the track and distance figures which were shown in the flight plan to the 166 deg. 48’ point for the first flight in February 1977.  For purposes of comparison a calculation to the “false” waypoint was prepared and put before the Royal Commission.  It showed that a direct track from Cape Hallett to that point is actually 191 deg. and the distance 343 miles.  The point is referred to in paragraph 230 of the Report within a section headed “The creation of the false McMurdo waypoint and how it came to be changed without the knowledge of Captain Collins”.