The Antarctic experience - Erebus disaster

‘Antarctica: the new adventure’

This was how Air New Zealand promoted its sightseeing flights to Antarctica. The company boasted that many privileged New Zealanders had visited Antarctica in the past but never before by commercial airliner.

These flights did not come cheap. Ticket prices of around $330 in 1978 were the equivalent to the cost of a return flight to North America. Flight TE901 was Air New Zealand’s 14th flight to the ice since 1977. Qantas had also been offering sightseeing flights for a similar length of time and had made 25 trips to Antarctica.

Advertisements promoted the ‘Antarctic experience’ as a unique sightseeing opportunity that would involve a low-flying sweep over McMurdo Sound, returning to New Zealand the same day. The promotional material makes for chilling reading in the aftermath of this tragedy. Glossy brochures described Mt Erebus as the ‘sentinel of McMurdo’ and referred to McMurdo Sound as a ‘coast of bleak beauty’. Tickets clearly stressed that despite its best efforts the company could not be held responsible for weather conditions that might obscure the view. It was also noted that weather conditions might influence the actual route, which was ‘at the absolute discretion of the captain’.

The in-flight menus revealed the luxurious nature of these flights, with a champagne breakfast and a lunch menu that included ‘Scallops Antarctica’ and ‘Peach Erebus’.

Experienced Antarctic guides provided passengers with a running commentary of scenic features and landmarks via the aircraft’s public-address system. Well-known figures such as Sir Edmund Hillary and Peter Mulgrew, both members of the Trans-Antarctic Expedition in 1957-58, acted as guides on the flights. Mulgrew was the commentator aboard TE901; it would be his fourth, and last, flight to the ice.