NZ Flight 901

[MungoP]

Until a recent relocation I had among my collection a superbly made 2 part video of a drama-documentary based on the 1979 Flight 901 tragedy in Antarctica... it's now lost and I'd love to be able to replace it...

Does anyone out there know where I could get a copy ?

[DH106]

Is that the one with Frank Finlay as Judge Peter Mahon? I think it's called "Erebus: The Aftermath"

[MungoP]

That's the one... Frank Finlay plays the role of Peter Mahon.. Superbly dramatised.

[DH106]

Yes - I agree, superby done.
I videoed it when it was first shown - I still have it somewhere.
I'll PM you if I can find my copy - but being Brit it's likely to be PAL rather than NTSC so not sure that'll be any good to you?

[MungoP]

DH106

PAL is not a problem.. I am a Brit.. but now 'over here'.. have a couple of hundred PAL videos that I'm currently unable to watch as although I have my video player, I don't have a TV that can deal with the PAL signal.. trying to locate one. If you do come across it I'd be happy to pay for the copying either onto a video or on to a DVD... Many thanks..

[Graybeard]

Don't believe I've seen it, so have programmed my tivo/dvr for both Erebus and Antartica to capture it. Will try to advise when it pops up.

I was peripherally involved early in the investigation. But for the data we found in the Nav Computer core memory stacks, McDonnell Douglas, Collins (RNAV) and Litton (INU) may have been blamed for that crash. Someday I'll write about it.

GB

[ampan]

Greybeard,

I have a very vague recollection of, some years ago, reading a sentence about Erebus with the names "Collins" and "Litton" in it. Without giving anything away, could you give me an indication as to where I might look?

[malcolmyoung90]

All,
The made-for-television mini-series that you are referring to is called "Erebus: The Aftermath". It was made by TVNZ in 1987 (although is incorrectly stated as 1988 in Wikipedia, imdb and many other websites). It screened on television in both Australia and NZ in either 87 or 88. It is a 2 part series and runs for a total of just over 3 hours.

The mini-series won 6 awards in NZ, including best (supporting) actor Ian Mune, for his superb portrayal of Morrie Davis (then Air NZ Chief Executive). It is also noteworthy for its well researched and detailed plot, taking us time-wise from one week prior to the crash, right through the Royal Commission, Court of Appeal and Privy Council appeal. The series is, in part, told from the point of view of Justice Mahon, as his voice is used in a semi-narration role (particularly near the conclusion). Many of the actors cast also bore a striking resemblance to the characters that they were portraying, in particluar Justice Mahon, Morrie Davis, Sir Rob Muldoon and Ian Gemmell.

Don't bother searching through the internet for a copy of this. I doubt you will find one. I tried in vain for 5 years without success. I also contacted ABC (who screened it in 87/88) here in Australia and also TVNZ. Both of them said that they did not have the rights to sell me a copy, nor were there any plans to re-screen it. :ugh::ugh::ugh::ugh:

If my recollections are correct, the programme has never been re-screened in Australia, and I would think that's the case as well in NZ. I am not sure why that, for such an excellent production, the biggest disaster in NZ history, with wide ranging ramifications for both the aviation and legal communities, particularly in NZ, it has never been re-screened.:confused:

I have my theory though - it was made by TNNZ, a goverment owned TV station. Air NZ was (I'm not sure if it still is) a government owned airline (at least in 1979 they held the majority of shares). The mini-series, although as objective as possible, seems to lean more towards Mahon's findings and opinions as being correct. It also portrays several of Air NZ's executive staff and board members at the time in a bad light. So, perhaps it was decided to never show it again :mad: - ie let it rest finally (and the Erebus disaster will never rest it seems).

I am not sure if it was ever shown outside of Aust/NZ. Perhaps it was in the UK. Certainly, it has never been available for commercial sale.

Having said all that, I obtained a DVD of this series about a month ago, from a fellow PPR member via a different forum. Needless to say, I've watched it several times in that period.:ok:

There is an excellent thread "Erebus 25 Years on" which is currently very active with dozens of daily replies. Check it out if you haven't seen it.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=152934&page=18

For anyone who's interested, there are also 2 documentaries that have been made about the Erebus crash. The first was "Flight 901: The Erebus Disaster", which was made in 1981, produced by Sonor Productions. Apparently, it was shown on TV in NZ in 1981 but was unsuitably titled "Death Flight 901" at that time. I obtained a copy about 7 years ago from the NZ Film Commission in Wellington, but I see that it does not appear on their website anymore. It is 52 mins in duration, and contains, amongst other things, actual video footage at the Royal Commission (about 10 witnesses' testimonies are shown in part).

The second is a DVD titled "Impact Erebus Two". It is available from NZALPA and indeed shoule be currently available. It contains interviews and footage of both Gordon Vette and Justice Mahon (GV footage is from both the early 80's and also from about 7 years ago), and the interviews with PM are around 1984. The rest of this DVD contains footage that was originally shown in the "Flight 901: The Erebus Disaster" video.

Hope that's some help to interested people out there.

[Graybeard]

Thanks for the link, Malcom. I started into that thread, or one like it, a couple of years ago then got sidetracked. I'm slogging through it now, as I remember my peripheral part of the investigation as if it were last month.

I have quite a lot of technical info to write that I don't believe has been covered in these forums, and it should be interesting to those involved. I just don't want to repeat seemingly common knowledge, or get facts wrong.

Yes, it regards Douglas, Collins and Litton, the players in the AINS-70, Area Inertial Navigation System, the forerunner of the ubiquitous FMS.

GB

[ampan]

That sort of information would be very interesting, Greybeard. Wasn't the computer work vital in proving that the crew actually entered the coordinates on the flightplan (ie, they didn't make a data-entry error).

Also, there has been some discussion as to whether the AINS, as it was on a DC10 in 1979, gave the pilot a good enough positionial fix to descend below the height of high ground.

[JO'B]

Two nights ago, I was watching my copy of Erebus while transcribing it from VHS tape to DVD. The quality of reproduction is excellent and the programme is compelling.
As I understand it, all DVDs are actually PAL standard but those for USA (Region 1) transcribe to NTSC. Since I recorded my own version, (not Region specific) PAL/NTSC should not be a problem. (It has not been for other DVDs I have sent to friends in the States.)
I would be pleased to send you a copy if I knew how to contact you.
In a secondhand bookshop in UK I found a copy of The Erebus Papers, dealing with the evidence et al associated with the enquiry. It is still packed away and I can give you no other details at the moment, but it might be worth searching ABEbooks for a copy.
In your quest for a TV, you will find in the States that you can buy multi-standard TVs which happily show you PAL. Even in France, a SECAM tv will often be PAL compatible.
In answer to another post, the Erebus programme was shown in UK just once on two subsequent afternoons. Hence my copy!

[malcolmyoung90]

For those interested, the writer of the Erebus: The Aftermath mini-series, Greg McGee, wrote a book that was published last year called "Tall Tales (Some True) - memoirs of an unlikely writer". In this book, their is a 32 page chapter titled "Dancing on the Coffins of the Dead" - which is entirely describing how the mini-series was all put together.

It is an interesting read, and I'd have to agree with a review I've read on the internet, that it would have been great if the Erebus chapter was not just limited to one chapter.

Amongst other things, it goes into a fair bit of depth about the legalities of writing such a script and how they managed to depict what they did. It also mentions that the show was screened and repeated in the UK (by BBC) and in Australia (ABC) - however, it was only ever screened once in New Zealand, as apparently the deal that Air NZ made with TVNZ was that they wouldn't sue if it wasn't repeated. So to those in NZ, don't expect it ever to be re-screened on television again.

[John Hill]

In a rather weird, and almost certainly unrelated coincidence, NZ901 early in the flight made a position report to Auckland Oceanic HF that they were over Queenstown then just a minute or two later corrected that to Invercargill.

Although I clearly remember this being discussed in the Ministry of Transport, Civil Aviation Division, Head Office I have never seen reference to this in anything related to the investigation or elsewhere. As I say, almost certainly unrelated though it does cause one to wonder.

[merlinxx]

I would like to rqst a copy, plse PM me with ctc details so I can fwd funds:ok:

[ampan]

John Hill: I've been through nearly all of the public material and have not seen any reference to this. It certainly makes me do some wondering.

[John Hill]

Ampan, I used to work in the old Aurora House and I remember it being discussed the day after the accident and I can only assume it was discounted as not relevant as it happened hours before the aircraft reached Antarctica.

Were the air/ground tapes for the entire flight included in the enquiry? Did the enquiry just have the paper logs from the air/ground operators' position? As far as I know the HF operators typed the reports in real time and if the position was corrected as I heard discussed it should have been on those paper log rolls, plus on the audio tapes of course.

Certainly odd though as it was not something that happens very often, in my, modest, experience.

[ampan]

John Hill: I don't think that either the ground tapes for the pre-Antarctic legs or the written logs were produced at the inquiry. Perhaps neither side attached any relevance to the information?

It has some relevance: The picture painted by Justice Mahon was of the captain carefully plotting his track on his atlas the night before, using a copy of an old flightplan. The track having been so carefully plotted, the crew would, allegedly, always know where they were, simply by looking at the 'miles to run' figure on the AINS.

Perhaps the careful plotting exercise didn't include the NZ sectors, given the planned altitude. But one would think that a mistaken opinion that one was over Queenstown might, a couple of hours later, have some effect on an opinion that one was in McMurdo Sound?

[Rollingthunder]

As an aside...

Wasn't it bit of a knee jerk reaction for ANZ to get rid of all their 10's after the accident?

[John Hill]

Ampan, I have not seen the flight plan and I dont know if the planned route took them over one, the other, or both of those towns.

Presumably they would have made use of ground based aids as long as possible before they had to rely entirely on the aircraft's on board systems, in which case the Invercargill NDB was likely their last check with the ground, though I may be quite wrong I dont think there was a VOR south of Christchurch in those days.

So what could the amendment to the position report mean? That they were 'lost' before they even left NZ? This is way out of my league I am afraid.:(

[ampan]

John Hill: You are not allowed to suggest that they were lost. (This rule has not yet been enshrined in a statute, although Jim Anderton and NZALPA have a bill before Parliament.) At all times, "the crew were certain of their position" - and completely wrong. (I reckon the penny finally dropped about 10 seconds before impact: Why turn left?)

Rollingthunder: Wasn't the DC10 a superior aircraft in almost every respect? I think you're quite right. The only design defect in the 10 was the cargo door issue, which had been sorted out long before. AirNZ obviously chickened out for no logical aviation reason - but perhaps perception is everything? They certainly managed to dig themselves out of the hole with the 747.

[John Hill]

Ampan, yes, thats why I said such "theological" matters are outside my league!

[forget]

NZ901 early in the flight made a position report to Auckland Oceanic HF that they were over Queenstown then just a minute or two later corrected that to Invercargill.

:confused: Is it being suggested here that they left Auckland with a huge discrepancy in the INS. Queenstown and Invercargill (airports) are 85NM apart.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b270/cumpas/qqq.jpg

[John Hill]

I am not suggesting anything, I am just saying that I recall an amended position report being discussed soon after the accident. I never saw the logs nor listened to any tapes.


But it does make one think, for instance how would such a discrepancy compare with the discrepancy(?) that caused the accident?

[4Greens]

Ron Chippendale (RIP) had it right the first time.

[WHBM]

Wasn't it bit of a knee jerk reaction for ANZ to get rid of all their 10's after the accident?

There had been a string of major total loss DC-10 accidents in the preceding 18 months - Continental at LAX (heading to New Zealand I believe), American at Chicago, Western at Mexico City (less than a month before), and then Air NZ in Antarctica. This is the sort of thing that will cause loss of confidence in a type whatever the facts, especially in a small market where the accident had been keenly felt. Notable Air NZ got rid of their fleet of 8 DC-10s by the end of 1982, together with their last 3 DC-8s, but only took 5 747s, and they were the only overseas type in their fleet until the 767s came along later in the decade. They must have suffered a substantial reduction in passenger demand.

[alistair®]

"Ron Chippendale (RIP) had it right the first time."

Comments like that offer no insightful purpose. Speculation and conjecture on this unfortunate accident is likely to persist forever. We all have our opinions on the views we subscribe to as being "correct", but stating them in the manner above doesn't add anything to the debate.

I believe Chippindale and Mahon were both right. Should the pilots have descended into an area unfamiliar to them without first confirming their position on radar? No. Should ANZ have let pilots with no experience in Antarctic conditions fly there? No. Should ANZ have briefed pilots properly about the insidious nature of whiteout? Yes. Should the coordinate change in the flight plan have been communicated to the flight crew? Yes.

I must admit I am fascinated at the story of the misreported position as the flight left mainland NZ.

[alistair®]

I found an interesting 5 part documentary on YouTube:

YouTube - Mount Erebus Disaster (1979) (Part 1 of 5) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujtzY11TDw4)

[ampan]

Alistair: The Erebus accident has already been examined in reasonably-minute detail on another thread.

PS - The crew were flying VMC, so they could descend, on the basis that they could avoid hitting high ground because they could see it ahead of them. Problem was, they could not, in fact, see it, given the sector whiteout.

The issue is whether the crew were completely blameless, as Mahon found. That cannot be right, despite what various media dickheads might think.

[ampan]

http://www.pprune.org/d-g-reporting-points/152934-erebus-25-years.html

[Brian Abraham]

I am fascinated at the story of the misreported position as the flight left mainland NZ
Personally I wouldn't place great import upon it. Perhaps it was a lovely VFR day and the crew chatted about the beauty of the Queenstown scenery off the starboard beam when they passed, and when it came time for the position report the crew member had a momentary brain fart. I recall being in a TMA and reported being at a different altitude than the one I was at. Stunned silence from ATC, but I quickly amended to the correct number and you could hear the sigh of relief in the controllers voice.
Crews make mistakes on every flight. NASA conducted a study of errors made on airline flight decks and found 899 mistakes on the 60 flights audited.
http://faasafety.gov/files/notices/2008/Oct/Checklists_and_Monitoring_2.pdf
Should the pilots have descended into an area unfamiliar to them without first confirming their position on radar.No.
Radar is not permitted to be used as a navigational aid. The reflectivity of radar on ice was a subject of much enquiry during the royal commission and the crew certainly did not have any training in such use as to make a judgement.

[alistair®]

Brian I am referring to the radar offered by McMurdo for letdown, not the DC10's radar.

[flatfootsam]

JO'B - Salut, check you PM's ref getting hold of a copy of the Erebus DVD

cheers

[alistair®]

Please do JO'B, I PMd you a while back too! :ok:

[flatfootsam]

The 30th anniversary is in Nov; the debates and arguments are still ongoing, with opinion polarised between the two respective camps.

Hopefully there's a tv retrospective and a screening of all of the relevant TV docs ect

Interestingsummary below from Arthur Marcel, Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane interested in systems analysis.

transcript here in full:

Ockham's Razor - 14*January*2007* - Mount Erebus plane crash (http://www.abc.net.au/rn/ockhamsrazor/stories/2007/1814952.htm)

...Perhaps, though, the paradigms for determining who is in command, who is in direct control and who is responsible, are changing. The levels of complexity of modern transportation systems are such that the notion of the sole commander and his executive crew, all powerful and totally responsible for the safety of the ship, a notion developed over many millennia of maritime (and more lately of aerial) navigation, is not as relevant as it used to be. We now live in an era of transportation systems in which many minds are involved in the operation of any particular vehicle, and the safe delivery of that vehicle to any particular destination can be seen as the product of systematic co-operation by a team of decision makers. There has to be trust at all levels for such systems to function properly. The pilots of modern aircraft have to place their trust in the organisation behind hem for the system to work. The crew of November Zulu Papa were let down by a system they not only had little option other than to trust, but one which they were given every conceivable reason to trust. In the paraphrased words of the Royal Commissioner, 'The cause of this accident was programming an aircraft to fly directly at a mountain and not telling the crew.' Certainly, the pilots of November Zulu Papa were directed into a very subtle trap and, even though it was they who took that sixth and final step, it's difficult to blame them for it.

[HEATHROW DIRECTOR]

<<That they were 'lost' before they even left NZ? This is way out of my league I am afraid.>>

Aircraft flying over the mainland of somewhere like NZ don't get "lost". Even at the southern tip of South Island I am sure that they would have been under radar surveillance.

My wife and I were almost on that flight and the circumstances still give us serious shivers nearly 30 years later.

[Brian Abraham]

alistair®, sorry, once again the impreciseness of the written word in communicating what is meant, besides, I have a degree in picking up sticks by the wrong end. :ok:

[malcolmyoung90]

JO'B - Salut


I've seen this "JO'B" mentioned 3 times on this thread now. I'm buggered if I can work out what it means. So I need to ask that dumb question - what does it mean?


The 30th anniversary is in Nov; the debates and arguments are still ongoing, with opinion polarised between the two respective camps.


I vaguely recall, perhaps it was on the 25th anniversary of the crash, or maybe each year since then, that relatives of the deceased were pushing the NZ Govt for the opportunity of visiting Antarctica and the site (or at least close to it) on Erebus. I suppose this will gather more momentum as the year progresses.

What is everyone's thought on this happening? (Or at least the possibility of it).

I seem to remember a 737 landing down there last year, for memory, Peter Garrett (Australian politician, enviromentalist and former rock musician) was on that flight. Depending on the level of interest by relatives of the deceased, if, hypothetically 1 or 2 737's were chartered for the trip by the NZ Govt, would such a trip be possible? Given the obvious limitations on accommodation at McMurdo, I'm presuming if it was at all possible, then the plane(s) and passengers would have to return on the same day.

[Pedalz]

Malcom,

Freezy jet: First charter flight airbus lands in the Antartic | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-507682/Freezy-jet-First-charter-flight-airbus-lands-Antartic.html)

The aircraft is a modified A319 and as far as I know the only one of it's kind. The chances of the NZ Govt. leasing this from the Aussies to charter them there I think is low, but nothing is impossible. Also currently this aircraft is used to fly to Wilkins Research Base with staff and scientisits the only ones being allowed on board.

Tis a pity, hope one day the mysteries are solved and not left to freeze over and shift with the ice.

[henry crun]

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.
Where would all these people be accommodated if their stay is longer than a few hours ?
Would they be prepared to go all that way for just a sightseeing flight around the mountain on the inbound/outbound leg ? because there is not the chopper capacity to take them to the site.

[alistair®]

I've seen this "JO'B" mentioned 3 times on this thread now. I'm buggered if I can work out what it means. So I need to ask that dumb question - what does it mean?

It doesn't mean anything, it's a username of the person who posted on page #1!

[alistair®]

alistair®, sorry, once again the impreciseness of the written word in communicating what is meant, besides, I have a degree in picking up sticks by the wrong end

No problem Sir! :ok:

[malcolmyoung90]

Malcom,

Freezy jet: First charter flight airbus lands in the Antartic | Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-507682/Freezy-jet-First-charter-flight-airbus-lands-Antartic.html)

The aircraft is a modified A319 and as far as I know the only one of it's kind. The chances of the NZ Govt. leasing this from the Aussies to charter them there I think is low, but nothing is impossible.


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.

[henry crun]

malcolm: Assuming some relatives are flown down there and back on the same day, and assuming the weather is clear, it seems to me to be a very long way to go for just a scenic flight around the crash site.

Would they be content with that ?

[malcolmyoung90]

henry: Apparently it's about 4,500km from Auckland to Ross Island. I relate it to the distance across the Australian continent - so for example, 3,300km from Sydney to Perth. A trek taken on a weekly basis by football teams, and other sporting codes, no to mention all the other types of travellers. So, in that respect, I wouldn't have really considered the journey from Auckland to Ross Island to be that much immensely longer. Not in the same way as say a trip from Australia to Europe is.


Would they be content with that ?


Well, that's a great question, but one that I couldn't really be in a position to answer.

If my memory serves me correct, the 25th anniversary was recognised in a fairly significant way, with services held in Auckland and many other NZ cities and towns, as well as MP's and others attending services in Antarctica. So there was still a fair amount of support and recognition from the NZ people, at least 4 years ago. I would have thought that would still be the case today.

I've got no idea if 10%, 50% or 90% of the relatives would be interested in a flight to or around the crash site. It's something that could easily be determined by at least offering it to them. I didn't know of anyone of the victims and have no connection with any of their relatives.

Going on newspaper reports in previous years, there seemed to be a certain level of interest, but wheter this was representative of the view of a few or dozens, is hard to say.

If it were me, then I would definitely want that opportunity.

[hagl75]

I really want a copy of "Erebus: The Aftermath". I don't care if it's VHS or dvd. I am willing to pay for it. My email is [email protected]. I saw this mini series 20 years ago and love it. I have always been interested in the erebus crash and had this show on video but lost it. I would be grateful to any response on this.

Paul Hagl

[reubee]

For those interested, the writer of the Erebus: The Aftermath mini-series, Greg McGee, wrote a book that was published last year called "Tall Tales (Some True) - memoirs of an unlikely writer". In this book, their is a 32 page chapter titled "Dancing on the Coffins of the Dead" - which is entirely describing how the mini-series was all put together.

It is an interesting read, and I'd have to agree with a review I've read on the internet, that it would have been great if the Erebus chapter was not just limited to one chapter.

Amongst other things, it goes into a fair bit of depth about the legalities of writing such a script and how they managed to depict what they did. It also mentions that the show was screened and repeated in the UK (by BBC) and in Australia (ABC) - however, it was only ever screened once in New Zealand, as apparently the deal that Air NZ made with TVNZ was that they wouldn't sue if it wasn't repeated. So to those in NZ, don't expect it ever to be re-screened on television again.



TVNZ just showed it over the last two nights. Now if only I'd recorded it...

[malcolmyoung90]

It's been available on YouTube (cut into approx 18 x 10 minute segments) for the past 6 months or so.

[India Four Two]

An RNZAF 757 was used to fly 104 relatives of the passengers who died on Mt Erebus, to Scott Base for a memorial service on 16 Feb.

Erebus families to fly to Antarctica - Story - National - 3 News (http://www.3news.co.nz/Erebus-families-to-fly-to-Antarctica/tabid/423/articleID/198424/Default.aspx)

New Zealand & World News - Yahoo!Xtra News (http://nz.news.yahoo.com/news-gallery/a/-/article/8845821/image/1/erebus-disaster-memorial/)