Air New Zealand Flight 901

Air New Zealand Flight 901

File:Air New Zealand Flight 901.jpg Debris from the DC-10's fuselage photographed in 2004. Most of the wreckage of Flight 901 remains at the accident site.
Accident
Date	28 November 1979
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	Mount Erebus, Antarctica
Aircraft
Aircraft type	McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30
Operator	Air New Zealand
Registration	ZK-NZP
Flight origin	Auckland International Airport
Occupants	257
Passengers	237
Crew	20
Fatalities	257
Survivors	0

Air New Zealand Flight 901 was a flight that operated from 1977 to 1979. The flight did not stop in Antarctica. It was a sightseeing flight to Antarctica. It was supposed to loop between Auckland, New Zealand, and Antarctica.

The flight's route had been changed without the crew's knowledge shortly before the plane took off. Because the weather conditions of the Antarctic were so bad (severely limiting visibility), and the crew believed they were following the original flight plan-the plane crashed straight into Mount Erebus. None of the 257 people on board the plane survived the crash. The original investigation showed it was the pilot's fault, but people protested and it led to an inquiry into the crash. The conclusion was the accident was caused by a correction made to the route the night before the disaster, and they failed to inform pilot Captain Jim Collins and co-pilot Greg Cassin.

Country	Passengers	Crew	Total
New Zealand	180	20	200
Japan	24	0	24
United States	22	0	22
United Kingdom	6	0	6
India	2	0	2
Canada	2	0	2
Mexico	1	0	1
Australia	1	0	1
Russia	1	0	1
Brazil	1	0	1
China	1	0	1
Belgium	1	0	1
France	1	0	1
Germany	1	0	1
Italy	1	0	1
Switzerland	1	0	1
Total	237	20	257