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Source: ONE News -
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A series of memorials were held around New Zealand on Saturday to mark the 30th anniversary of the fatal Erebus flight.
For some, resentment still lingers at what happened in the aftermath of the Erebus disaster.
Twenty white balloons floated skyward near Auckland airport, one for each of the Air New Zealand flight crew killed on flight TE901.
Among those at the memorial was former Air New Zealand flight attendant Ian Hambly, the man who had to identify their remains.
"I went into the Auckland mortuary, I spent six weeks there, I was there from the first day to the very last because we never found Diane Keenan," he says.
Thirty years later he is still bitter that what he believes to be the truth has never come out.
"The cover-up was an entirely different matter and it was about money, simple as that and that's the tragedy of this," he says.
Far from blaming Air New Zealand he points the finger at political leaders of the day. He claims the Muldoon government was trying to avoid paying a huge compensation bill under new ACC laws.
"He declared 901 to be an international flight, it was not. It went from Auckland to Christchurch, no one had a passport, no one went through immigration, no one was able to buy duty free, it was a domestic flight," he says.
International aviation agreements capped any payout at $42,000 a person.
On Saturday it was not just Air New Zealand offering an admission of failure as the acting Prime Minister, Bill English spoke out about the tragedy.
"I don't think there is any doubt that the government of the day could have and should have done a much better job of attending to the needs of the families of those that were lost - they didn't do that and that should be acknowledged today," English says.
Hundreds gathered at Air New Zealand's headquarters where they again heard an official apology and a wish for wounds to heal.
"It's my sincere hope that everyone can put the controversy, debate about blame aside and focus all our energy, love and support on those lost loved ones on that fateful day," says Air New Zealand Chief Executive Rob Fyfe.
Some still believe that will not happen until there is a truer account of the aftermath
