Erebus anniversary: Pilot's grandchildren carry roll of honour in moving service
Sunday, 24 November 2019
The grandchildren of the pilot during the Erebus disaster played a prominent role during a moving service to mark its 40th anniversary.
The service was held in Auckland on Sunday evening at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Parnell and attended by hundreds.
Those gathered included family and friends of those who died in the tragedy when Flight TE 901 crashed into Mt Erebus in Antartica.
An emotional crescendo to the service featured three grandchildren of pilot Jim Collins and his widow Maria - Isabella Carter (20), Amélie (8) and Evie (6) Collins-Saggs.
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The two youngest carried the roll of honour into the cathedral, supported by the elder grandchild, as some of those in the pews dabbed their eyes.
The dignitaries in attendance included Auckland Mayor Phil Goff, Minister of Justice Andrew Little, ACT leader and Epsom MP David Seymour and Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy.
Reddy described finding out about the tragedy while she was studying in America in 1979 via a radio broadcast featuring a rare mention of her home country.
She later discovered that she, like many others at the time, knew someone aboard the plane, in her case a former student she taught at the University of Victoria the previous year.
The Governor-General paid tribute to the friends and family of the 237 passengers and 20 crew who perished in the disaster.
She also addressed the lingering effects on those who took part in the recovery effort, Operation Overdue.
'Many of you still feel the effects of your time on the ice.'
Their efforts to recover the remains came in some cases at a significant and ongoing cost to their personal wellbeing, she said.
Among the speakers was Malcolm White, Master of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots, who was visiting from the UK.
He had come bearing a letter of condolence from the Lord Mayor of London.
White had spent some time in Queenstown staying with a relative of one of those killed in the crash, he said.
- You can listen to White Silence, a podcast on the Erebus disaster, on Stuff, or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or any other app using the RSS feed.