Talk:Mount Erebus disaster

The famous passenger film prior to impact

A film shot by a passenger aboard Air New Zealand flight TE901 on November 28, 1979 is stunning because it appears to show elevation dramatically decreasing before what also appears to be a sudden, abnormal end to filming. This could also be the passenger zooming in on the terrain from an aircraft window. Is it known whether this is sloping terrain right before impact? If it is known - then this information could be added to the article. People who do see the video will undoubtedly be curious and have questions about what they are seeing. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.120.205.61 (talk) 19:16, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

It's definitely zooming in as the flap fairing disappear from the frame as it zooms in. Avi8tor (talk) 19:30, 30 September 2025 (UTC)

I'm unaware that anyone here knows what you are referring to. You must provide a source to back up any claims made, i.e. where anyone can view this film. PatrickDunfordNZ (talk) 07:54, 3 December 2024 (UTC)

PM at the time

The invovlement of politician's is not yet mentioned. In the article, there is no mention that AirNZ was owned by the state. The PM at the time became publicly involved in a huge disagreement with Mahon, mainly to avoid liability. Fred114 (talk) 02:52, 18 December 2025 (UTC)

contradiction

In the "Circumstances surrounding the accident" section, it says "Passenger photographs taken seconds before the collision removed all plausibility of a "flying in cloud" theory, showing perfectly clear visibility well beneath the cloud base, with landmarks 21 kilometres (13 miles) to the left and 16 kilometres (10 miles) to the right of the aircraft visible."

however, in the "Crash into Mount Erebus" section, immediately underneath this, it says "Outside, a layer of clouds blended with the white snow-covered volcano, forming a sector whiteout – no contrast between ground and sky was visible to the pilots. The effect deceived everyone on the flight deck, making them believe that the white mountainside was the Ross Ice Shelf, a huge expanse of floating ice derived from the great ice sheets of Antarctica, which was in fact now behind the mountain."

these two passages seem to contradict each other. one days that there were no clouds, while the other says that the clouds blocked the view. if i'm misinterpreting this, then I believe it should be clarified further, but if not, then the contradiction should be dealt with such that only one of these is included StudentOfEtherium (talk) 04:44, 9 May 2026 (UTC)

There's no contradiction. I think you are misreading the sentences. There was no low level cloud so they weren't flying through cloud. Layers of (high level) cloud reflected of light from the ice caused white-out. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 05:42, 9 May 2026 (UTC)

I see. I still think that the way it's phrased is a little confusing, so I think it could be worth clarifying the position of the clouds StudentOfEtherium (talk) 05:45, 9 May 2026 (UTC)

Well, you can rearrange the words if you want to, but they must reflect what the sources are saying, which isn't always the same as what an editor choses to write. I notice the CCC library source seems to be dead, unless someone can find it somewhere. It probably won't be a good secondary source anyway, but we should see what it says. Roger 8 Roger (talk) 06:27, 9 May 2026 (UTC)