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Pip Collins, pilot Jim Collins' daughter - Source: ONE News -
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The family representatives of the victims of the Erebus tragedy are on their way back to Christchurch after failing to land on the crash site.
They were visiting Antarctica to mark the 30th anniversary of New Zealand's worst air disaster and had hoped to visit the scene of the crash. But the bad weather ruined plans to fly from Scott Base to Mt Erebus.
All 257 passengers and crew on board an Air New Zealand DC10 on a scenic flight to Antarctica died when the plane crashed into Mt Eerbus in November 1979.
Eric Houghton, son of one of the passengers on the ill-fated flight says it was disappointing not to be able to visit Mt Erebus.
"But we all kind of agreed it was okay because we feel Erebus has a will of its own in a special way," he says.
The extra time was used by Scott Base staff to add a final touch. Paul Rodgers of Antarctic New Zealand gave the visitors some crampons from the 1980s which were probably used during the rescue operation.
"I knew I'd find a good home for them," says Rodgers.
The group is appreciative of all that has been done for them.
Pip Collins, the DC10 pilot's daughter, says she will treasure the memory of her trip to the ice.
"Treasure and love the support to me personally. My dad would be proud and happy about the way we've been so well care for," she says.
Her father Jim Collins was initially blamed for the disaster, but none of the family members on the anniversary trip hold him responsible, and they wanted her to know that.
"The first night we gathered together and had dinner in Christchurch before we came. It turns out each of us individually said that to Pip, that we never blamed her father," says Fran Kell, a passenger's daughter.
Houghton agrees.
"It feels good to be here with Pip and to have her know that her dad was a good decent man. He was a victim in this just like everybody else," says
A capsule containing messages from other family members was blessed. It will remain at Scott Base and when there's an opportunity, it will be taken to the site.
Rodgers says it is nice to see the family members carry on the journey that their loved ones embarked on all those years ago.
