![]() The airline had woefully under-equipped its crews for flying in a polar environment and somehow managed to change the route of the fatal flight twice without realising it. Was it the pilots? Captain Jim Collins and First Officer Greg Cassin had flown a DC10 directly into a mountain at 1500 feet. Tragedy was overtaken by controversy, as bitter arguments emerged about blame and conspiracy, leaving New Zealand's deadliest disaster as a gigantic, unresolved mess.Īt the heart of it was the question of who was responsible for the crash. In the four decades since it happened, the Erebus disaster somehow got even worse. Photo: Fairfax Media NZīut it isn't that. It had logged more than 20,700 flight hours prior to the crash.Wreckage at the site of the Erebus disaster. The aircraft that day was Air New Zealand’s McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 trijet and the plane was registered ZK-NZP. Usually flights would not be filled to capacity so that there would be space allowing passengers to walk about and get a better view of the incredible frozen continent from different places in the cabin.Ĭocktails would be served for the travellers as they clicked away on their cameras, many of whom would be puffing away on cigars and cigarettes. The flight left Auckland International Airport 8am on the morning of the 28th November and was due back at 7 that night. Come fly with Air New Zealand and see the world’s least visited Continent for a cool $359 New Zealand Dollars – which now set you back around $1300 US dollars. It had become a great money-spinner for Air New Zealand, not to mention an excellent marketing tool. There had been 13 previous flights which went off without serious incident and the whole concept had started two years earlier in 1977. After the 5,360 miles from Auckland to the frozen south, the pilots would put the DC-10 into a series of low-flying sweeps out to the sea of McMurdo Sound or over the Ross Ice Shelf or both depending on time and the weather, then return home. The flight plan was complex compared to a normal commercial route. Mulgrew would never return from the Antarctic. Unfortunately for long-time friend and climbing companion, Peter Mulgrew, he was available and stood in for the hero of Mount Everest. Some big names had been involved for example Sir Edmund Hillary had acted as a guide on flights and was actually supposed to be on board 901 that day in November 1979, but cancelled because he had other bookings. So let’s go over the facts that are not in dispute.įlight 901 was marketed as a unique sightseeing experience where the passengers paid around $360 US Dollars each to be flown over Antarctica with an experienced guide who pointed out features and landmarks using the plane’s PA system. When a judge uses a phrase like conspiracy by senior management, then something has gone seriously wrong in terms of governance.īut the legal wrangling didn’t end with the judge – there was an appeal then intervention by the privy council in London as New Zealand is a commonwealth state. ![]() The first aviation inquiry found pilot error caused the accident but then a Judge in a follow up investigation ruled the cause was incorrect data which had been knowingly left in a flight computer despite this error being reported. In fact, the phrase ‘an orchestrated litany of lies’ entered the Kiwi lexicon for some time and by the end of this episode I hope you’ll see why. To say the court processes which took place were riven by bitterness and a distinct failure of leadership is pretty much an understatement. Mount Erebus is on Ross Island part of the Antarctic archipelago and as you’ll hear, a juddge eventually called some evidence presented by Air New Zealand as "an orchestrated litany of lies" and which took 30 years before anyone at the airline formally apologised for that deceit. Of all the accidents I’ve described, this one has some of the most unfortunate set of circumstances and one of the most difficult recoveries afterwards of any aviation accident in history. This is episode 21 and we’re taking a close look at the Mount Erebus disaster where an Air New Zealand McDonald Douglas DC-10 crashed on 28th November 1979, killing all 257 passengers and crew.Īt first it looked like straight pilot error - a CFIT or controlled Flight Into Terrain accident.īut that would change as inquiries led to court cases.
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