Erebus Crash

On November 28 1979 an Air New Zealand sightseeing flight crashed on Mount Erebus an Antarctic volcano with the loss of 257 lives. New Zealand's worst peace time disaster. Apart from much anguish for the relations and friends of those involved, the crash led to a Commission of Enquiry and several books. It also led to a much publicised phrase, used by Peter Mahon, the judge in the Commission of Enquiry, "an orchestrated litany of lies" Mahon cleared the crew of blame for the disaster and found that the major cause was the reprogramming of the aircraft's navigation computer without the crew being notified.

Here is the first news film of the crash site.