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| Name: | Thom Laycraft |
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| Location: | Calgary,Alberta,Canada |
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| Comments: | I was exploring the Antarctica on Google Earth when I came upon Mt.Erebus and a Youtube clip about the crash. Subsequent inquiry led me to this excellent website wherein I spent the rest of the night absorbing it's content. Condolences to so many surviving victims and congratulations to the hard workers who toiled to find the truth and teach the lessons of the tragedy. |
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| Visit Date: | 4/05/2010 |
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| Name: | Alan Henley |
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| Location: | Auckland |
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| Comments: | Congratulations to all involved in the production of this impressive site.
I was Air New Zealand International Cabin Crew Manager at the time of the tragedy and shared the duty, with the late Don McKay(Deputy Cabin Services Manager), of making the initial personal visit to the bereaved families of the Cabin Crew Members.
I knew all the crew personally and the devastated faces of their families as they struggled to grasp the magnitude of what had happened will always remain with me. We had little information to give them and at that time, only hours after the sighting of the wreckage, no idea if there was any possibility of recovering the bodies of their loved ones. The subsequent efforts of the recovery team later gave most of the families some kind of closure.
The continual debate over the investigation is unfortunate but, while questions remain unanswered, let us all continue to honour relatives, friends and colleagues who lost there lives on this awful day. May they rest in peace. |
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| Visit Date: | 9/12/2009 |
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| Name: | Bruce Berryman |
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| Location: | Melbourne |
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| Comments: | Thank you for this very informative Web site. I remembered the 30th anniversary of the Erebus disaster last Saturday November 28, 2009. I take my hat off to the two most prominent people in the investigation of the aftermath, namely Justice Peter Mahon and Gordon Vette, who both got to the bottom of the truth. At the end of the day, all that these two men, among others, tried to do was find out what really happened and what caused this tragic accident that killed 257 people.
Justice Mahon and Gordon Vette both deserve to be forever remembered for their unfailing devotion to finding out the truth. Mr. Vette's receiving of an Honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the University of Glasgow was highly deserved. Now I believe he deserves to receive a knighthood as further recognition of his tireless work to make the world a safer place to travel in. (He should have been knighted a long time ago, in my opinion)
I will say nothing of Air New Zealand, except to say that I hope they never ever behave like that again. Say no more! |
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| Visit Date: | 5/12/2009 |
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| Name: | A Edkins |
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| Location: | New Zealand |
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| Comments: | I am writing this exactly 30 years from when I heard the news that TE901 was lost. My father Charles Edkins was an Air New Zealand aircraft engineer at the time of the accident. Dad didn't mention anything when he got home from work on 28 Nov 1979, however late in the evening when the news came through that the aircraft was presumed lost he told us of the mounting concerns that had arisen throughout the afternoon at work. He knew many of those onboard. The Air New Zealand that I had grown up with changed forever.
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| Visit Date: | 28/11/2009 |
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| Name: | BernLagan |
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| Location: | NewYorkCity |
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| Comments: | The night before this crash, I had dinner with Air New Zealand's PR guy, a Mr Berry, at Wellington's St George Hotel. We talked at length about ANZ's excellent safety record. I worked as a journalist on The Dominion. I well remember events as they unfolded the next day. Morrie Davis, then ANZ's CEO was hosting the annual ANZ golf match at Trentham outside of Wellington. When he quietly left the course, half way through play, hardly anybody noticed - noboldy else was then told the DC 10 was in radio silence and fears were mounting. About 7 pm that night we on the newspaper were told by a Wellington fire bridage contact in ops that the DC 10 was missing and, by then, nearly out of fuel. That was the very first we knew on the newspaper of the unfolding disaster. By 11 pm that night I was in a ham radio shack on top of a hill in Brooklyn, Wellington listening in on live communiocations between USAF C130 Hercules aircraft and helicopters down in Antarctia searching for the DC 10. Freakish weather conditions that night allowed our ham radio man to pick up the USAF radio traffic.But they weren't finding anything and we told our office on the phone it looked like the newspaper presses would d have to start rolling with no outcome in the search. Then the radio came suddenly to life with an American pilot, his voice cracking with emotion: I still member his extact words : " We have the DC10, we have the DC 10. It is on the backside of Erebus. There appear to be no survivors, repeat no survivors." I think we knew the outcome just ahead of Air New Zealand. This was related in the first book about Erebus but had to be taken out before sales started, The ham radio operator feared for his licence. But those words from the C130 pilot have longed stayed with me. Chilling. |
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| Visit Date: | 27/11/2009 |
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| Name: | William Fairbairn |
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| Location: | Nelson |
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| Comments: | I am a Composer Musician Entertainer and have been composing music since age 4
At 10 years of age my Dad explained to me how Grandad had taken the Erebus trip, and the trip which crashed was the one my Dad was to go on but due to work comitments that came up he was unable to go.
I composed Tribute To Mount Erebus at age 10, I visulise it as I play it, it is a very emotional piece it was also a UK Semi finalist, to hear the song go to my web site www.williamfairbairn.co.nz and click on past compositions and video clips
I am now age 12 but feel very conected to this accident through my music.
williamfairbairnmusic@gmail.com |
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| Visit Date: | 26/11/2009 |
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| Name: | Mckayla Marlene Hansen |
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| Location: | Blenheim, New Zealand |
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| Comments: | I Am A Grandaughter Of Marlene Anne Hansen, I Have Recently Been Talking With My Cousin Bradley O'Rouke About The Crash. That Made Me Want To Search It Up, Then I Came Across This Site, It's So Sad, I Never Got To Meet Her, But From What Ive Been Told She Was A Wonderful Woman Who Always Put Other's Before Herself, Was always There For Everyone Who Needed A Friend. She Is Very Very Dearly Missed and Will Always Be In All Of Our Hearts, Altough I Never Got To Meet Her, I Love Her And Will Always Love Her, Rest In Paradise Nana Love You Always And Forever xoxo Missing You Everyday xoxo |
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| Visit Date: | 21/10/2009 |
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| Name: | Peter Rhodes |
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| Location: | Wanaka OTAGO |
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| Comments: | Well done NZALPA. The lessons from this tragedy are there for everybody, from Government, NZCAA, to the individual participant in the aviation industry. Our greatest tribute to those who died on Erebus is to ensure those lessons are applied to prevent such a tragedy again. |
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| Visit Date: | 18/10/2009 |
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| Name: | Carmen Mackenzie |
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| Location: | Waitakere City, Auckland, New Zealand |
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| Comments: | I am glad there is somewhere where my children can come to access information regarding this tragic event in NZ History and also a tragic event for our family. I remeber the day very well even though I was only 8 years old when we lost our both of our grandparents, my family were quiet and shocked. There was no real sense of closure for the family as there were no seperate family funerals for us to attend. It is still hard 30 years on and I feel will always be a sad time for those who lost love ones that day. |
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| Visit Date: | 16/10/2009 |
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| Name: | Ian Hambly |
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| Location: | Auckland |
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| Comments: | On 28 November 1979 I was a steward with Air NZ. I knew all the crew on TE901. I was appointed to coordinate the activities associated with the families of the cabin crew on board and subsequently spent 6 weeks in the Auckland Mortuary looking for the crew amongst the remains recovered from the crash site. With the agreement of the families involved, I performed the formal identifications where that was possible (9 out of 15). My most harrowing task was to return property recovered from the crash site and the mortuary to the families. I guess I remain affected by my experiences. I also attended the Auckland sittings of the Royal Commission of Enquiry. I can confirm that Justice Peter Mahon was presented with an 'orchestrated litany of lies'. I was a witness to it. When Mahon reported that he had to listen to evidence that was 'palpably false', he did. It was obvious to everyone present. Gordon Vette's evidence was instrumental in giving Mahon a full understanding of Air NZ's Antarctic operations and enabling him to correctly identify the factors that led to the accident. The Chief Investigator's report was exposed as rudimentary and superficial and his conclusions not only wrong but worse, predetermined. A terrible miscarriage of justice was prevented. Both Gordon Vette and Peter Mahon were men of integrity and that integrity led them to confront evil at great personal cost. Thirty years on we are in their debt and will remain so. |
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| Visit Date: | 16/10/2009 |
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| Name: | Simon Carr-Smith |
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| Location: | Bali |
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| Comments: | Thanks for your efforts to keep the memories alive. My wife Elizabeth, of only a few days died in the crash. It lives on me every day still - not as the pain of loss, but as a special gift that expanded over the years to be able to guide others through loss and pain - to enrichen their lives to come. I pray that others have received that same gift. |
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| Visit Date: | 16/10/2009 |
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| Name: | Don Wood |
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| Location: | Napier |
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| Comments: | I think that this is a great resource for us all. We lost our parents and two close family friends. My loss was their wisdom and companionship for our family but in particlar my children who were 7, 5 & 3 in 1979.
The news over the last few days from Air New Zealand is that they may at long last be getting some things right right.
Our family was like every other who lost some one on that flight. We were presented with some flowers by an air hostess soon after that day.
Since that day we have had nothing. Every 10 years it is like repoening an old wound as all the emotion floods back of those dark days.
Apportioning blame now is irrevelant to me.
Like most things in life it is never black or white but always a shade of grey.
I have put my name inot the ballot to go down there as I would love to see the place where it happened.
Finally I still have my fathers watch which has stopped forever at the moment of impact. For years it smelt strongly of aviation fuel but now that too has gone.
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| Visit Date: | 15/10/2009 |
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| Name: | Chris Clark |
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| Location: | Auckland |
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| Comments: | I lost my Grandfather in this tragedy, and ever since I was a young boy I have been fascinated with this disaster, I now go around schools talking to kids about my families experience's with this disaster. Thank you so much for creating such a wonderful website and continuing to remember our loved ones that we lost.
Thank you. |
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| Visit Date: | 30/09/2009 |
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| Name: | C. Berner |
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| Location: | Frankfurt, Germany |
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| Comments: | Impressive Website, thanks for working out this different point of view about aircraft accident analysis and this tragedy in particular. |
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| Visit Date: | 4/09/2009 |
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| Name: | Kathryn |
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| Location: | Brisbane Australia |
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| Comments: | I had been working for Air New Zealand just 3 years when this tragedy happened (I would stay another 25) and at the time I was the early morning shift supervisor in one of the airline's reservations offices. It was with shock & saddness I saw at 6am the following morning the pasenger manifest on my desk of all those lives that had just been lost.
It had been my privilege also to fly with Cptn Jim Collins on the flight deck of the DC10 just a few months before on a company sponsored trip to/from Australia for 4 staff from Christchurch.
I have just finished reading Peter Mahon's book "Verdict on Erebus" which tells so clearly the tragedy on that day and the aftermath. But it a day, we who worked in the airline at that time will never forget.
As we come to the 30th anniversary my heart goes out to all the people who lost their lives & their families, that day. |
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| Visit Date: | 19/08/2009 |
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