Memories of the Erebus crash: A first plane trip, lost friends, absolute disbelief
Wednesday, 20 November 2019
OPINION: On November 28, 1979, an Air New Zealand jet took off from Auckland Airport on a sightseeing trip to Antarctica. There were 257 people on board. Hours later everyone was dead.
Somehow, the plane had flown directly into the Erebus volcano. It was a tragedy that shattered a country's psyche.
To mark the 40th anniversary of the disaster, we asked Stuff readers to share their memories of the Erebus crash. Here is a selection of the most poignant:
Jane Lambert: I grew up next door to Captain Jim Collins and his family. His father sold half their land to my father so we could put a house there.
**READ MORE:
* Memories of Erebus: The horrific reality of losing my mum in a plane crash
* White Silence: Air New Zealand should apologise for Erebus disaster
* White Silence: The widows left behind tell their story about the aftermath of the Erebus disaster
The Collins family were great friends and neighbours.
My father, who had been in the Royal New Zealand Air Force, encouraged Jim to join. Once he had his flying skills there he then went on to train as a commercial pilot and worked for Air New Zealand.
Jim was the epitome of honesty, integrity and the best citizen anyone could be. My mother lived in Christchurch and when Jim had some hours, or an overnight in Christchurch, he would always visit. He was a wonderful person.
We all know that Jim and the crew were exonerated. Judge Mahon found that the investigation revealed 'an orchestrated litany of lies' on behalf of Air New Zealand and others involved.
Leave those who died to rest in peace.
Barry Munro: On 28 November, 1979, I was huddled over a Philips radio receiver, at Awarua Radio, near Invercargill, with a group of others, listening on the HF air radio frequency. We had been requested to listen in case the DC10 had sent a distress signal. Awarua had an unused receiving aerial oriented towards Scott Base, Antarctica.
We didn't hear anything from the overdue DC10, but we did hear the exact moment a searching aircraft reported sighting the wreckage. We would have been amongst the first people to learn the tragic news.
Natalie Cozens: My father's friend was a geologist and fearful of flying. He avoided it, but this flight was a flight of a lifetime for him.
The journey to Erebus was to be his first plane journey. He faced his fear and met it when the plane crashed into the mountain. I remember him having dinner with our family and telling us how scared he was of flying, but as a geologist it was an important trip for him.
Kim Buchanan: My grandfather had a ticket given to him by his accountant, who had a business in Onehunga. But Pop got cold feet, deciding he did not want to fly on the plane, so he did not go.
Sadly his accountant and all on board died.
I felt so sad and horrified when I heard about the plane crash - I still remember that young guy's face.
Alister Matheson: I was carrying out post-graduate studies at the University of Otago, in the chemistry department. Around 4am Steve, a fellow researcher, knocked on my flat door.
He was distraught and explained that his parents were on the Erebus flight and that he needed to get home to Invercargill. Steve wanted me to return some books to the chemistry department library. I understand that his parents had won the flight in a competition.
I suggested that we look at flights and we went to the local police station to see if we could obtain a flight schedule. In the end it was decided to drive. I drove him to his parents place; the worst drive of my life.
When we arrived at the family farm, relatives, locals and friends had rallied around. We sat on couches and chairs watching the live broadcast for many hours hoping that there were survivors - a very difficult and unpleasant time for all. When it became clear that there were none, I excused myself and asked a local to take me to town were I caught a train back to Dunedin.
Steve spent several months working through his parents' unexpected death. His younger brother took over the running of the farm. The aftermath of the death of their parents had ramifications for the whole family for years and created many difficulties. Steve did return to research and thankfully completed his PhD.
Unfortunately, I have lost contact with Steve. I hope all is well with him and his family.
Tim Elms: We remember the day well as it affected our daughter, Lesley. At the time she was attending Woolston Primary/Intermediate School.
Her teacher was Ms Christine Nicolson, who was lost in the disaster. Lesley and her class were doing a project in class about Antarctica with Ms Nicolson and she told the class that she would take photographs and tell them all about the trip of a lifetime on her return to school. Very sadly it was not to happen. Lesley thought a lot of Ms Nicolson, she was a fine young teacher.
Fairy Gyani: 40 years ago, I was working sole charge at The Hotel Intercontinental in The Mount Cook Travel Office. I remember the excitement of an elderly American woman who came in to reconfirm her ticket on her Air New Zealand flight to Antarctica. I can still see her face. She was with others, but I really only remember her.
Of course my memory is probably distorted, but I remember feeling so very amazed about it. We had a happy conversation.
On the evening, when the news broke, my then-boyfriend and I had been out for dinner. We returned home at about 11pm to his flatmate and a friend in front of the TV, shocked, and telling us of the disaster. I remember telling them that I had reconfirmed several American tourists on the flight.
Such a very sad day.
Lorraine McKearney: I remember the day the news came on about a plane that had gone down in the Antarctic. I was sitting in my office in Tauranga and I was 17. I later found out that the family who owned Hartley's Drapery across the road had lost three family members in the tragedy and felt so very sorry for them.
Mike Patrick: Waking in the morning and hearing the news on the radio about the crash left my wife and I stunned. Then turning on the TV, seeing what was evolving there, was even more shocking. Absolute disbelief.
But perhaps a more poignant memory was of the train ride from Johnsonville into Wellington later that morning for our weekly shopping and time out with the children.The Saturday morning train ride was usually a boisterous affair, with passengers chatting, children looking forward to a day in town with their parents . This trip was very silent. Sitting across from us was a young couple. The woman was ashen, sobbing quietly, her partner trying to comfort her. An extraordinarily harrowing experience, one I hope I never experience again.
The other memory that shall abide with me forever is watching coverage of the Mahon inquiry - it was, for me anyway, sickening to see the Air NZ management attempt to blame everyone else for the accident, anyone other than Air NZ systems failures.
As Judge Mahon famously wrote, we indeed witnessed an 'orchestrated litany of lies' - and even though this statement was eventually tossed out by the Privy Council, the fact remains that it was indeed as Judge Mahon stated, certainly as far as I'm concerned.
Don Muir: I was at home watching TV. Throughout the evening, news reports were saying that the flight had not been heard from for several hours and Air NZ were concerned. At about 8pm a news report said that Air NZ had confirmed flight 901 was down, as it would have run out of fuel approximately one hour prior.
We were all in shock and discussed what could have gone wrong. My wife and I went to bed and around midnight one of our guests came upstairs and said that the wreckage had been found on Mt Erebus.
This was hard to fathom as this sort of thing didn't happen in New Zealand.
Andrew Brown: My late father was one of Air NZ's engineering inspectors in Christchurch. We lived near the airport, and aviation ran deep in our family.
I remember the growing dread that evening as the aircraft became more and more overdue. Dad called work and I can recall his realisation that all hope was lost. A quiet, empty shock seemed to have filled the house as I, a 12-year-old, went to bed.
I awoke to the news in the morning that the wreckage had been found. We did not know any of the passengers or crew, but the airline which seemed like part of the family was traumatically wounded. The revelations of the behaviour of management which came later hurt my father badly.
Liz Vanderpump: I was eight. I remember it so clearly; the excitement around the trips down to Antarctica. Imagine being able to afford such a whimsy! I also remember the eerie national radio news items saying the plane had not been heard from. It was a beautiful early summer's evening where we lived, sometimes I still think of it when the light hits a certain point even nowadays.
Always feel tears too. I think it is possibly true that everyone knew somebody who knew somebody who was a victim. The images were haunting.
Gus Beullens: On the night of November 28, 1979, my late brother, a workmate and I had been fly fishing the Mataura River near Wyndham. We arrived back in Invercargill about 9.30pm and we noticed the whole city seemed to be lit up.
My wife Mary greeted us quite concerned and told us an Air New Zealand plane was missing in Antarctica and that all the landing lights at the airport were switched on in case the plane, which was estimated to be running out of fuel could make an emergency landing there.
We have never forgotten that tragedy and I have listened to 'White Silence' which is an amazing production. Well done everyone involved.
This story is part of White Silence, a six-part podcast series from Stuff and RNZ to mark the 40th anniversary of the Erebus disaster. You can listen to White Silence on Stuff, or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or any other app using the RSS feed. The episodes will be released daily from Friday, November 8.