Mount Erebus disaster

The Mount Erebus disaster occurred on 28 November 1979 when Air New Zealand Flight 901 (TE901) flew into Mount Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew on board. Air New Zealand had been operating scheduled Antarctic sightseeing flights since 1977. This flight left Auckland Airport in the morning and was supposed to spend a few hours flying over the Antarctic continent, before returning to Auckland in the evening via Christchurch.

The initial investigation concluded the accident was caused primarily by pilot error, but public outcry led to the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the crash. The commission, presided over by Justice Peter Mahon, concluded that the accident was primarily caused by an automatic correction made to the coordinates of the flight path the night before the disaster, coupled with a failure to inform the flight crew of the change, with the result that the aircraft, instead of being directed by computer down McMurdo Sound (as the crew had been led to believe), was instead rerouted to a path toward Mount Erebus. Justice Mahon's report accused Air New Zealand of presenting "an orchestrated litany of lies", and this led to changes in senior management at the airline. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council later ruled that the finding of a conspiracy was a breach of natural justice and not supported by the evidence.

The accident is the deadliest in the history of Air New Zealand, the deadliest aviation accident in Antarctica, and New Zealand's deadliest peacetime disaster.

Flight and aircraft

Flight 901 was designed and marketed as a unique sightseeing experience, carrying an experienced Antarctic guide, who pointed out scenic features and landmarks using the aircraft's public-address system, while passengers enjoyed a low-flying sweep of McMurdo Sound. The flights left and returned to New Zealand the same day. The plane left Auckland International Airport at 8:00 am for Antarctica, and was scheduled to arrive back at Christchurch International Airport at 7:00 pm after flying 5360 mi. The aircraft would make a 45-minute stop at Christchurch for refuelling and a crew change, before flying the remaining 464 mi to Auckland, arriving at 9:00 pm. Tickets for the November 1979 flights cost per person. Dignitaries including Sir Edmund Hillary had acted as guides on previous flights. Hillary was scheduled to act as the guide for the fatal flight of 28 November 1979, but had to cancel because of other commitments. His long-time friend and climbing companion, Peter Mulgrew, stood in as guide.

The aircraft used for Antarctic flights were Air New Zealand's eight McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 trijets. The aircraft on 28 November was registered ZK-NZP.

The 182nd DC-10 to be built, and the fourth DC-10 to be introduced by Air New Zealand, ZK-NZP was handed over to the airline on 12 December 1974 at McDonnell Douglas's Long Beach plant. It had logged more than 20,700 flight hours prior to the crash. Captain Thomas James "Jim" Collins, age 45, was an experienced pilot who had accumulated 11,151 flight hours, including 2,872 hours in the DC-10. First Officer Gregory Mark "Greg" Cassin, age 37, had accumulated 7,934 flight hours, including 1,361 in the DC-10. Flight Engineer Gordon Barrett Brooks, age 43, had 10,886 flight hours, including 3,000 in the DC-10 (Brooks had also been Flight Engineer on the Air New Zealand flight involved in the Cessna 188 Pacific rescue in 1978). Also on board were First Officer Graham Neville Lucas, age 39, and Flight Engineer Nicholas John "Nick" Moloney, age 44. Flight Engineer Moloney had a total of 6,468 flight hours, including 1,700 in the DC-10.

Accident

All times are in New Zealand Standard Time (UTC+12), as at McMurdo Base. Mainland New Zealand was running on New Zealand Daylight Time (UTC+13) at the time of the crash.

Crash into Mount Erebus

Collins told McMurdo Station that he would be dropping to 2000 ft, at which point he switched control of the aircraft to the autopilot. Outside, a layer of clouds blended with the white snow-covered volcano, forming a sector whiteout – no contrast between ground and sky was visible to the pilots. The effect deceived everyone on the flight deck, making them believe that the white mountainside was the Ross Ice Shelf, a huge expanse of floating ice derived from the great ice sheets of Antarctica, which was in fact now behind the mountain. Whiteout was little understood, even by the company’s experienced polar pilots—Air New Zealand had provided no training for the flight crew on the sector whiteout phenomenon. Consequently, the crew thought they were flying along McMurdo Sound, when they were actually flying over Lewis Bay in front of Mount Erebus.

At 12:49 pm, the ground proximity warning system (GPWS) began sounding a series of alarms that began with two "whoop" tones followed by an audible command, "Pull up!", warning that the plane was dangerously close to terrain. The CVR recorded the following:

GPWS: "(whoop) (whoop) Pull up! (whoop) (whoop)..."

F/E: "Five hundred feet."

F/E: "Four hundred feet."

GPWS: "(whoop) (whoop) Pull up! (whoop) (whoop) Pull up!"

CA: "Go-around power please."

GPWS: "(whoop) (whoop) Pull-"

CAM: [Sound of impact]

The captain had ordered a terrain escape manoeuvre by requesting the flight engineer apply full (go-around) engine power, but it was too late. Six seconds later, the plane crashed into the side of Mount Erebus and exploded, instantly killing everyone on board. The accident occurred at 12:50 pm at a position of and an elevation of 1467 ft above mean sea level. McMurdo Station attempted to contact the flight after the crash, and informed Air New Zealand headquarters in Auckland that communication with the aircraft had been lost. United States search-and-rescue personnel were placed on standby.