Pedalz,
Yes, this is the flight and aircraft that I was recollecting. I agree, it would be unlikely if it happened.
It would be interesting to know the basics of these modifications - I presume landing gear/tyres would be one of them, perhaps braking ability, but what else I have no idea. I don't suppose the DC10's were modified at all when they flew there in the 70's (I realise they weren't required to land in Antarctica).
I find it hard to believe that the NZ government would consider such a trip because it would present problems that Scott Base is not equiped to handle.
Would something like the previously mentioned A319 be big enough for all those relatives who would want to go ?
Presuming they would not expect the taxpayer to pick up the tab, the relatives might get a shock when they found out how much it costs to transport the extra fuel to Antartica.
I would not be surprised if the NZ Govt did not consider such a trip, but I would be disappointed for the relatives. In most avaition disasters, relatives of the deceased are often shown gathering at (or very near to) the crash site. Sometimes this occurs immediately after the disaster, sometimes several months afterwards together with a memorial service and possibly the erection of a permanent memorial.
Fortunately, I can't speak from experience, but I would have thought that these types of memorials, memorial services and gatherings at the crash site, would be of great importance to the relatives of the deceased.
We're all aware of the uniqueness of the Erebus disaster and it's aftermath. Give that it's 4000km from NZ, and the coldest place on earth, it wasn't possible for relatives of the 257 passengers and crew to be taken there in late 1979 or early 1980. I recall that in late 1979 there was a fair amount of pressure coming from the Japanese passengers' relatives (via the Japanese Govt) to allow a visit to the crash site, as there was something in Japanese customs that more or less required that this be done. The pressure from Kiwi passengers' relatives in recent years seems to be gathering in momentum.
So Erebus remains probably the only major disaster in the world where none of the relatives have been allowed to come even remotely close to where their loved ones perished. They can't even step on to the same continent, unless they had a valid scientific reason to go down there.
So with the A319 that travelled there last year, it is now possible to safely land a commerical jet with several hundred passengers (or whatever its capacity if this has also been modified) on board. As I've suggested, I wouldn't think overnight accomodation would be necessary. Couldn't they just be flown there and back to NZ on the same day?
I had not considered that there was just one of these types of aircraft that can land in Antarctica. I was envisaging that if 2 were chartered, then up to 2 relatives of each deceased would be able to travel. However, with only one aircraft, a limit of one would be all that could be accommodated. But who knows how much interest there will be all these years later. I think it should at least be offered.
So, it all just seems a matter of cost. Who's going to pay. Yes, I had thought the NZ government, ie the NZ taxpayer, should pay for this entirely. If I was a NZ taxpayer, I would fully support that. I feel angered thinking that it wouldn't be supported by the NZ people.
In Australia, on 7 February, we had what will probably turn out to be (if not already) our equivalent of Erebus. In fact, in many ways, it probably is worse. The way the country has responded and bonded together in support of this though, is nothing short of inspirational (looting aside). A cricket match in Adelaide (Aus v NZ) on Tuesday raised A$6m for the cause. The Red Cross in Melbourne had 20,000 phone calls in 3 days of people willing to donate blood. Volunteer firefighters from all other states, and also from NZ, have taken leave from work to go and help out. The list goes on. By the end of the week, the best part of A$100m sould have been rasied.
So it would be heartwarming to hear, later this year, that the people of NZ were fully supportive of something similar to what I've suggested.