The initial Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) report on the accident prepared by Chief Inspector of Air Accidents Ron Chippindale and released on 30 May 1980 initially blamed the crash on pilot error, but Vette challenged this finding. He had trained Collins himself and found it unlikely that he would exhibit that level of negligence. In an interview some years after the accident, Vette described Collins as "one of the most cautious pilots in the world." In fact, it was soon discovered that the airline changed Flight 901's route, after the flight briefing without informing Collins, putting Mt. Erebus directly in its path. Vette hypothesized that the crash might be due to any combination of three factors: first, that the route had been changed from the open expanse of McMurdo Sound to right over Mt. Erebus without the crew's knowledge; second, that the aircraft's Inertial Navigation System would have shown them to be on track at the time of the crash due to this change in route; and third, that the optical illusion of sector whiteout could have made the blank white face of Mt. Erebus appear to be the snowy plains of McMurdo sound, leading the crew to believe that they were still following the route that every other flight had taken. Unwilling to let the blame for the accident be unfairly assigned to the flight crew, Vette consulted with experts and conducted extensive research in order to discover the truth.
