Air New Zealand Flight 901
Air New Zealand Flight 901 was a flight that operated from 1977 to 1979. The flight did not stop in Antarctica. It was a sightseeing flight to Antarctica. It was supposed to loop between Auckland, New Zealand, and Antarctica.
 Debris from the DC-10's fuselage photographed in 2004. Most of the wreckage of Flight 901 remains at the accident site. | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 28 November 1979 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain |
| Site | Mount Erebus, Antarctica 77°25′30″S 167°27′30″E / 77.42500°S 167.45833°E |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 |
| Operator | Air New Zealand |
| Registration | ZK-NZP |
| Flight origin | Auckland International Airport |
| Occupants | 257 |
| Passengers | 237 |
| Crew | 20 |
| Fatalities | 257 |
| Survivors | 0 |
The flight's route had been changed without the crew's knowledge shortly before the plane took off. Because the weather conditions of the Antarctic were so bad (severely limiting visibility), and the crew believed they were following the original flight plan-the plane crashed straight into Mount Erebus. None of the 257 people on board the plane survived the crash. The original investigation showed it was the pilot's fault, but people protested and it led to an inquiry into the crash. The conclusion was the accident was caused by a correction made to the route the night before the disaster, and they failed to inform pilot Captain Jim Collins and co-pilot Greg Cassin.
| Country | Passengers | Crew | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
 New Zealand
|
180 | 20 | 200 |
 Japan
|
24 | 0 | 24 |
 United States
|
22 | 0 | 22 |
 United Kingdom
|
6 | 0 | 6 |
 India
|
2 | 0 | 2 |
 Canada
|
2 | 0 | 2 |
 Mexico
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Australia
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Russia
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Brazil
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 China
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Belgium
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 France
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Germany
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Italy
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Switzerland
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
| Total | 237 | 20 | 257 |
