Emotions flow as NZ pays homage

Emma Gould, partner of Murray White, at the Auckland service. Photo / Jason Dorday

New Zealanders were urged to put the Erebus controversy behind them as families mourned those lost there and at Perpignan at emotional ceremonies around the world yesterday.

Ceremonies were held in Auckland, Christchurch, France and at Scott Base in Antarctica to remember the 257 people who died when an Air New Zealand DC10 crashed into Mt Erebus on November 28, 1979, and the seven who died when an Air NZ Airbus crashed off the coast of France on the same date a year ago.

At two ceremonies in Auckland and one in Christchurch the message from Air NZ's top executives was the same: another apology for the way the airline neglected to support grieving relatives at the time of the tragedy and an appeal to the nation to put the controversy behind it.

Chief executive Rob Fyfe said the Erebus pilot Jim Collins and First Officer Greg Cassin had been chosen to command Flight 901 because they were among the airline's best. Those lost at Perpignan were also the best in their field, he said, but the recent crash was handled very differently.

"It took the loss of 257 lives on this day 30 years ago to teach us the lessons in crisis management that we hope we never have to apply again."

He called for the controversy over blame to be set aside, saying there could be no single reason for the crash.

Family members of the 44 lost at Mt Erebus whose remains were never recovered or identified gathered for a service at the Erebus memorial at Waikumete Cemetery, West Auckland yesterday afternoon.

Judith Frith, daughter of passenger Geoffrey Buchanan, said the service was "beautiful".

She said it was "a very emotional time but it was just nice to be able as a family to grieve and share together".

In France, families of those killed in the Airbus crash stood on the Canet-en-Roussillon beach yesterday to watch the unveiling of a plaque of greenstone and local stone.

Residents of Perpignan watched as the grieving families and friends, of the five New Zealanders and two Germans who died, laid wreaths and flowers at monument.

The widows and their children also laid handmade cards, stories and drawings below the plaque.

Tracey Marsh, the widow of 35-year-old Christchurch flight engineer Noel Marsh, her baby Katie in a front pack, laid her hand on the greenstone inscribed with the seven names, a gesture believed by Maori to infuse the spirits of the living with the dead.