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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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Another 80 family members of victims of the Erebus disaster are being given the opportunity to travel to Antarctica this summer.
The one-off day-trip follows up on a promise made by Air New Zealand and the government after the 30-year anniversary flight last year.
Six people made the trip to Erebus last November, and said the opportunity gave them a sense of closure and comfort. At that time, Air New Zealand said it would look to explore more opportunities to take other family members.
Jackie Nankervis was one of those who missed out. She lost her father and uncle when flight TE 901, with 257 people on board, crashed into Mt Erebus killing everyone on board.
She hopes she will be one of the lucky ones to visit the site this time around.
"We've been deprived of visiting the place for 31 years. I just want to stand there. I just want to see the mountain that took my father's life. I have to do it. It's very important," she said.
The Prime Minister said the government understood the need.
"When we made the initial offer for a few people to go down, there were about 60 other applications that were turned down. This new opportunity is accommodating everyone who put their hand up," John Key said.
Foreign minister Murray McCully said the event would be an "important final milestone for the Mt Erebus disaster, and will allow remaining family members to achieve a degree of closure to an event that was, and still is, keenly felt by the nation".
Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Rob Fyfe also said the trip would help with healing and closure.
"Many of the families who lost loved ones in the Erebus tragedy have reiterated to me how important it is to them to have the opportunity to travel to Antarctica and we hope this trip, in some small way, will help the families who have grieved their losses for more than 30 years," Fyfe said.
Names for the next remembrance flight will be drawn by ballot by a senior member of police and overseen by an independent auditor. It will be open to immediate family representatives of passengers, cabin crew and flight crew.
The 80 people will be flown by Air Force 757 to the Pegasus Airfield near Scott Base, where a ceremony will take place at the flagpole. Access to the actual crash site is too difficult.
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