Smoke on the Slopes A Digital narrative By Holly Marx

I am Elaine Marx, I was not on the plane that crashed into Mt Erebus, but I am the daughter of these two people William and Iris Clark and they did die in the crash.

On the 28 November 1979, at 6a.m. mum and dad left home for the Auckland Airport to catch the Air New Zealand Flight that took 237 passengers for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica. They were so excited to finally be going after four years of trying to get tickets, for the 11 hour flight seeing one of the last untamed areas in the world. The plane had to do a refuelling stop in Christchurch on the way.

At p.m. the aircraft crashed into the lower slopes of Mt Erebus killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew on board, because of the white out conditions the pilot couldn’t see Mt Erebus in front of him and by the time the warning system went off it was too late.

The last transmission from the aircraft was to Mac Centre, (the United States Air Force communications base at McMurdo), had the aircraft dropping to 610 metres (2,000 feet). Had the plane been following the original flight plan?

At 10 p.m., about half an hour after the last drop of fuel on the aircraft would have been used, reporters were told, the aircraft must be lost. This news report interrupted the T.V. programme I was watching to say that the plane must be lost. It is assumed that it must be down somewhere, I sat waiting for more news of what might of happened they said police had set out to find the aircraft.

At about 2a.m. a news report came over the T.V. to say wreckage had been found and no survivors could be seen. I was devastated. I tried to get to sleep not knowing whether they were dead or alive.

Over the coming days the police contacted me to ask for photos, clothing they had been wearing, scars they may have had on their bodies, jewellery they may have been wearing and anything else that may identify them. My mother was finally identified in the middle of February she was one of the last to be identified by her rings, my father was never identified so I still wonder if he is one of the victims buried in the mass grave at Waikemute cemetery or whether he is still on Mt Erebus.

Later in the year while I was listening to radio they were saying the plane crashed because of a mix up in the planes coordinates. There was a commission of enquiry into the disaster and the above was the main reason for the crash.

I was very lucky to have been one of the descendants chosen to return to Antarctica for a memorial service held at Scott Base this year to be able to see where the accident happened.

Bibliography: Plane_Crash Thanks to my nana Elaine Marx who told me her perspective of the crash.