Mount Erebus Disaster: Sightseeing Plane Kills 257
A sightseeing flight. No cargo, no business travelers — just 257 people paying to gawk at Antarctic ice from 2,000 feet up. Air New Zealand had quietly reprogrammed the flight computer the night before, shifting the route directly over Mount Erebus without telling the crew. Captain Jim Collins flew straight into a 12,448-foot volcano in whiteout conditions he didn't even know he was approaching. The inquiry called it "an orchestrated litany of lies." But the real horror? The crew did everything right.
November 28, 1979
47 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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