Ron Chippindale

Ronald Chippindale (26 March 1933 – 12 February 2008) was the Chief Inspector of Air Accidents in charge of the New Zealand Office of Air Accidents Investigations.

Early life and family Born in Kettering, Northamptonshire, England, on 26 March 1933, Chippindale was the son of George Frederick Chippindale, an engineer in the Royal Air Force, and Irene Eulalia Chippindale (née Neall). The family moved to New Zealand in 1938, and Ron Chippindale was educated at Rangiora High School.

When the Office was abolished in 1990, he was appointed Acting Chief Executive Officer and Chief Inspector of Air Accidents in the Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC), which replaced the Office of Air Accidents Investigation. In 1992, when a Chief Executive was appointed, Chippindale became the Chief Inspector of Accidents with the TAIC, an appointment he retained until his retirement on 31 October 1998.

He was a member of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) teams, which investigated the Mozambican Tupolev Tu-134 air disaster in South Africa in which the President of Mozambique lost his life, and the shooting down of three civil aircraft: Korean Air Lines Flight 007 over Russia and two United Nations (UN) Lockheed L-100 Hercules aircraft in Angola.

Chippindale represented New Zealand at Accident Investigation Group meetings of ICAO and drafted the ICAO circular on the provision of "Family Assistance" after an aircraft accident. He was also the New Zealand Councillor to the International Society of Air Accident Investigators and a transport accident investigation consultant.

Honours and awards In 1990, Chippindale received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.

At the time of his death, Chippindale was an adjunct lecturer teaching "Aircraft Safety Investigations" in a three-paper series extramurally (by correspondence) at Massey University School of Aviation.