An Expert Revisits the Errors

DTNZ

Aviation analyst and YouTuber Mentour Pilot has revisited the chain of events that led to the 1979 Mount Erebus catastrophe, arguing that a mix of navigational change, inadequate briefing, and Antarctic “whiteout” conditions set the stage for tragedy.

Air New Zealand began operating Antarctic sightseeing flights in early 1977, promising passengers an 11-hour round trip from Auckland in a DC-10 with commentary, meal service and low-level viewing over some of the most remote scenery on Earth.

On November 28, 1979, Flight TE901 departed Auckland with 237 passengers and a five-person flight crew for what was expected to be the final approved Antarctic flight amid rising fuel costs.

According to the account, the DC-10 relied heavily on an inertial navigation system programmed with a pre-set route, but the final waypoint was altered around 2:00am on the day of departure, effectively shifting the aircraft’s track by about 27 nautical miles without the crew being clearly informed.

Mentour Pilot (real name Petter Hörnfeldt) says this left the pilots believing they were tracking down McMurdo Sound over low, flat sea ice, when in fact they were being guided toward Ross Island and the rising terrain of Mount Erebus.

As the aircraft descended for sightseeing, intermittent radio contact problems and the absence of reliable radar coverage compounded uncertainty.

The video describes how “whiteout” – a polar optical illusion that removes contrast between snow-covered terrain and cloud layers – likely prevented the crew from recognising the mountain directly ahead.

At 1,500 feet, the ground proximity warning sounded only seconds before impact, and the DC-10 struck the lower slopes of Mount Erebus, killing all 257 people on board.

Hörnfeldt highlights the long-running controversy that followed: the initial investigation by Chief Inspector Ron Chippendale attributed the crash primarily to the captain’s decision to continue low-level flight in poor visual definition, while Justice Peter Mahon’s Royal Commission concluded the crew was mistakenly confident in their position and that the core failure was an internal breakdown that allowed the route change to occur without proper notification. Mahon also accused Air New Zealand management of a deliberate cover-up – a “litany of lies”, allegations later set aside after legal review found parts of his findings exceeded his mandate, but the debate has remained one of New Zealand’s most polarising events.

This article was originally published by the Daily Telegraph New Zealand.