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www.erebus.co.nz |
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www.erebus.co.nz
2009 marks the 30-year commemoration of this accident which resulted in the loss of all 257 people on board this Antarctic sight-seeing flight, including Captain Jim Collins and 19 other crew.
IFALPA Conference Commemoration
At this year's IFALPA Annual Conference in March in Auckland, New Zealand, an audio-visual presentation was made to some 400 delegates, telling the tragic story of the loss of Air New Zealand DC10 Flight 901 on Mt Erebus in the Antarctic continent on November 28th, 1979.
As part of the commemoration at the Conference, several noteworthy awards were made. The Jim Collins Memorial Award for exceptional contribution to aviation safety was made to the late Justice Peter Mahon whose meticulous approach as head of a Royal Commission to establish the cause of the accident exonerated the pilots who were initially blamed, and forever changed the way air accidents are investigated. Justice Mahon's careful analysis discarded the blame and shame approach of the original Air
Accident Investigator who had only looked at the immediate cause preceding the accident, in favour of one in which both systemic and human factors were fully analysed, looking along the chain of causation to show how experienced crews were able to become trapped in a tragic set of circumstances from which they were unable to recover.
Mr Mahon's widow accepted the Award on behalf of her late husband, and received a standing ovation from the Conference
In addition Captain Gordon Vette, a former President of NZALPA and colleague of Captain Collins, was awarded the IFALPA Presidential Citation for his contribution to aviation safety. Captain Vette carried out his own research in the aftermath of the accident and assisted Justice Mahon to establish that sector whiteout conditions at the time of the accident, together with a change of flight path by the airline of which the crew were unaware, placed the aircraft on a collision course that the crew were powerless to prevent.
Erebus Website
This new NZALPA website is dedicated to those lost to Mt Erebus and is intended to provide the definitive source of information in the world on this, New Zealand's worst transport accident. The New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association has committed itself to establishing and maintaining this website to ensure that the Erebus story will never be forgotten and that future generations will always have a place to go to learn about this tragic event in New Zealand and aviation history.
Launching the Website
NZALPA is proud to be unveiling a comprehensive professional website dedicated to the story of Erebus.
The site was launched at our own annual conference held in Wellington, New Zealand on 23 June 2009 2100 GMT. The launch was recorded by live direct video link to Interpilot House in London.
How You Can Help
On Monday night, 23 June 2009 London time, IFALPA at Interpilot House in London was the first to see the site. When the site went live to IFALPA, IFALPA staff sent you this message asking members to log on in support and perhaps post a comment. Achieving the exposure of the website to over 100,000 pilots worldwide will be the first measure of its success.
Please...
When you receive the message from IFALPA, support NZALPA and the memory of those lost to this tragedy by logging on to www.erebus.co.nz
Your contribution to the success of this major effort on the part of NZALPA is greatly appreciated.
Kind regards.
Mark Rammell
President
NZALPA
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