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The Erebus cross at the site where the Air New Zealand DC10 crashed in Antarctica - Source: ONE News -
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Just days before the 30th anniversary of New Zealand's worst air disaster, there are calls for more efforts to enable the families of victims to visit the Erebus crash site.
Two-hundred-and-fifty-seven people died when an Air New Zealand DC10 crashed on Mt Erebus in Antarctica on November 28, 1979.
Six family members of the victims of the disaster are due to fly there this week but many more want to go.
But that is considered impractical and logistically impossible as the cold and hostile environment of the Antarctic continent will make it difficult even for the six who will leave for their trip.
Having to wear extreme cold weather gear, the six will leave from Christchurch and land at Scott Base, from where they will take a helicopter to the Erebus crash site.
But the entire trip can be cancelled even at the last minute as the weather dictates everything in Antarctica and if bad weather is reported, it is unlikely the trip will go ahead.
Pip Collins is one of the six. The daughter of the late Jim Collins, who was in charge of Flight TE 901, she says it has been hard to know how to prepare for her trip to the Antarctic.
"It's incredibly important. In fact if I over-think it, it almost becomes overwhelming," says Collins.
She says she has visited the site where her father died countless times in her mind.
"I've probably been preparing for this trip in a way for the last 30 years."
David Allan also lost three members of his family that day - his father, mother and little sister. He too will be making the trip south.
"For me, I saw it as having the opportunity of visiting my mother's grave because she was not recovered, her body was not recovered," says Allan.
Five years ago Reverend Peter Beck, the Dean of Christchurch Cathedral, took a service near the site.
He is pleased family will be there with him this year.
"It's not before time. It's still very raw. My hope is this time there'll be some healing and a sense of closure," say Beck.
About 70 family members told Air New Zealand they wanted to visit the site but the airline said only six would be going and that any future trips to the site are up to the government and Antarctica New Zealand.
Antarctica New Zealand spokesman Lou Sanson says it is very difficult to make a trip to a site on the icy continent.
"We're dealing with a crash site which can be one of the most beautiful places in Antarctica and then in two hours time be one of the most in-hospitable places on the planet," says Sanson.
The weather, he says, drives everything on the continent.
"Safety is the number one priority. We're dealing with Antarctica on Antarctica's terms and blizzards can come out of nowhere in a couple of hours," says Sanson.
Seats are limited and a visit costs around $10,000 per person. Sanson considers Antarctica to be the most expensive place to operate in the world.
The six heading to the Erebus site empathise with those who cannot make it, saying others should also have the chance to travel to the continent.
"If others can have the opportunity, I imagine it would be fantastic," says Allan.
