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Air New Zealand Flight TE901 was a scheduled service from Auckland International Airport in New Zealand to Antarctica and return. The Antarctic sightseeing flights were operated by McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 aircraft and began in February 1977 . On 28 November 1979 the flight crashed in Antarctica, killing all 257 people aboard. FLIGHT DETAILS The flight was designed and marketed as a unique sight-seeing experience, carrying an experienced Antarctic guide who pointed out scenic features and landmarks using the aircraft public address system. Dignitaries such as Sir Edmund Hillary had acted as guides on previous flights. Indeed Sir Edmund had been scheduled to act as the guide for the fatal flight, but had to cancel due to other commitments. Sir Edmund's long-time friend and climbing companion, Peter Mulgrew stood in as guide. The flight usually operated at about 85% of full capacity — the empty seats, usually the centre ones, allowed passengers to move more easily about the cabin to look out of the windows. THE ACCIDENT On , flight TE901 Collided with Mount Erebus , killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew members. The flight that day was being operated by the DC-10 registered ZK-NZP, which was just under five years old. The aircraft altitude at the time of the collision was just 1465 feet (445 metres). After radio contact was lost, search aircraft. The dead included 200 New Zealanders , 24 Japanese , 22 Americans , 6 British , 2 Canadians , 1 Australian , 1 French , and 1 Swiss . 44 of the victims were not identified. The accident is exceptional in that, to this day, controversy exists over the true cause of the accident, and in the amount of responsibility the airline and crew should assume. Public opinion also remains polarised. The prevailing two opposing theories are listed below, together with their main points. ACCIDENT INQUIRIES Official accident report The accident report compiled by New Zealand's chief inspector of air accidents, Ron Chippindale , was released on 12 June 1980 . It cited Pilot Error as the principal cause of the accident and attributed blame to the decision of Captain Jim Collins to descend below the customary minimum altitude level, and continue at that height when the crew was unsure of the plane's position. The customary minimum prohibited descent below 6000 feet (1830 metres) even under good weather conditions, but a combination of factors led the captain to believe the plane was over low, flat ground, and previous Flight 901 pilots regularly flew low over the area to give passengers a better view. Mahon Inquiry Due to public demand, the New Zealand Government announced a further one-man Royal Commission Of Inquiry into the accident, to be performed by Justice Peter Mahon . Mahon's report, released on April 27 1981 , cleared the crew of blame for the disaster. Justice Mahon said the single, dominant and effective cause of the crash was the changing of the aircraft's navigation computer co-ordinates to route the aircraft directly towards Mount Erebus, without the crew being advised. The new flight plan took the aircraft directly at the mountain, rather than along its flank. Due to Whiteout conditions, "a malevolent trick of the polar light", the crew were unable to visually identify the mountain in front of them. Furthermore, they may have experienced a rare meteorological phenomenon called Sector Whiteout which creates the visual illusion of a flat horizon far in the distance. Justice Mahon also found that the radio communications centre at McMurdo Station had authorised Captain Collins to descend to 1500 feet (450 metres), which is below the minimum safe level. Justice Mahon controversially claimed airline executives engaged in a Conspiracy to whitewash the enquiry, famously accusing them of "an orchestrated litany of lies" by covering up evidence and lying to investigators. Privy Council appeal Mahon's findings as to the cause of the accident, namely reprogramming of the aircraft's flight plan by the ground crew who then failed to inform the crew, were not challenged before the Privy Council, as they had not been challenged before the Court of Appeal. His conclusion that the crash was the result of the aircrew and was ''not'' due to pilot error therefore remained. But the Board held that Mahon had acted in excess of his jurisdiction and in breach of natural justice by going on to make findings of a conspiracy by Air New Zealand to cover up the errors of the ground staff. In their judgment, delivered on 20 October 1983 , the Law Lords dismissed Mahon's appeal and upheld the decision of the Court of Appeal, which had set aside the costs order against the Airline. Aviation researcher John King wrote in his book ''New Zealand Tragedies, Aviation'': They demolished his case item by item, including Exhibit 164 which they said could not "be understood by any experienced pilot to be intended for the purposes of navigation" and went even further, saying there was no clear proof on which to base a finding that a plan of deception, led by the company's chief executive, had ever existed. "Exhibit 164" was to a photocopied diagram of McMurdo Sound showing a southbound flight path passing west of Ross Island and a northbound path passing the island on the east. The diagram did not extend sufficiently far south to show where, how, or even if they joined, and left the two paths disconnected. Evidence had been given to the effect that the diagram had been included in the flight crew's briefing documentation. (See Mahon v. Air New Zealand ) It is important to emphasise again that by 'his case' King was referring to the case of a cover-up, not Mahon's case that the crash was not due to pilot error. LEGACY OF THE DISASTER The crash of flight TE901 remains New Zealand's deadliest disaster, followed closely by the Napier Earthquake . The small size of New Zealand meant that nearly the entire population was affected by the disaster, personally or by association. A wooden cross was erected above Scott Base to commemorate the accident. It was replaced in 1986 with an Aluminium cross after the original was eroded by low temperatures, wind and moisture. Almost all of the aircraft's fuselage and components still lie where they came to rest on the slopes of Mt. Erebus, under a layer of snow and ice. During warm periods when snow recedes, the wreckage is still visible from the air. For failing to deliver the result Prime Minister Robert Muldoon expected, Justice Mahon remains something of a controversial public hero. A sidenote from the disaster was that in 1980 Air New Zealand decided to replace their capable (in spite of the disaster) DC-10 fleet with Boeing 747 200s. In 1981 - 1982 all DC-10s in the Air New Zealand fleet were sold overseas and replaced by 747s. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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