White Silence

A Stuff/RNZ podcast about the Erebus Disaster and what happened next. From the plane crash that took 257 lives, through the "orchestrated litany of lies", to the way it changed NZ to this day.

Contains sensitive themes.

Written, produced and hosted by Katy Gosset and Michael Wright

A snowy volcano with the words "White Silence" appear in front of it, with the wreckage of an Air NZ plane wing strewn at the bottom third below the text.

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The Break-In

Episode 1
On November 28, 1979, an Air New Zealand DC10 took off from Auckland Airport on a sightseeing trip to Antarctica. It never returned. What do the families remember of that fateful day?
Aviation Accidents And Incident Antarctic 1979. (Photo by Fairfax Media NZ)

The Caravan

Episode 2
257 people were dead. Whose fault was it? investigators sift through the evidence and come to a shocking conclusion.
Capt. Jim Collins, Mt. Erebus crash. November 28, 1979. (Photo by Fairfax Media NZ)

All Hell

Episode 3
"It's a woeful story, isn't it?" With the pilots' reputations in tatters, a second investigation unearths appalling mistakes and a sensational new theory for what caused the crash.
Erebus Commissioner Mr. Justice Mahon. a judge of the high Court, at Auckland. December 23, 1981. (Photo by Fairfax Media NZ)

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock

Episode 4
'An orchestrated litany of lies'. Justice Peter Mahon's words would prove the making of him and the ruin.
Justice Mahon ... Used privy Council judgment on Erebus findings as precedent. December 27, 1999. (Photo by Barry Durant/Fairfax Media NZ)

New World Order

Episode 5
In 1981, New Zealand was changing. The Baby Boomers had come of age and the Springbok tour was about to tear the country apart. When the Mahon Report landed right in the middle of this, the country was ready for its first big conspiracy.
Japanese relative waits at Whenuapai. January 01, 1979. (Photo by Fairfax Media NZ)

White Silence

Episode 6
40 years later, there is still no consensus on what happened. Why has New Zealand been so unable to deal with this disaster?
The tailpiece of the Air New Zealand bearing the 'Koru' the emblem of the airline lies amongst wreckage on Mt Erebus. The plane crashed on Wednesday killing all 257 people onboard. November 30, 1979. (Photo by Associated Press Photo)

Playing Through

Bonus episode
40 years on, the Erebus tragedy is not forgotten. New Zealanders come forward to share their own stories of the country's deadliest disaster.
Mt Erebus. Aviation: Accidents NZ, Antarctic 79. April 30, 1979. (Photo by Fairfax Media NZ)

The Apology

Bonus episode
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to White Silence about her decision to say sorry to the families of the Erebus victims: "It all built a picture for me of unfinished business, and that wasn't right".
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Introducing: White Silence

Trailer
It was meant to be a once in a lifetime experience. But an Air New Zealand sightseeing flight to Antarctica ends in tragedy, killing 257 people. And the accusations, regrets and intrigues continue to this day.
The crashed DC10 Litters the slopes of Mt Erebus. Other pictures and stories. September 21, 2000. (Photo by The Press)