A Litany of LIES! | The Mount Erebus Disaster

Published at : 17 Dec 2025

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This is a story of small decisions and system gaps stacking up into an outcome nobody expected. On the 28th of November, 1979, Air New Zealand Flight 901 is on a routine sightseeing trip to the most remote continent on Earth.

What begins as an unforgettable adventure slowly tightens into something far more unsettling. A small change in the background. A route that looks right on paper. A cockpit that has every reason to trust what it sees and what it has been told. This is the full story of the Mount Erebus Disaster.

0:00 - Intro
0:25 - Air New Zealand and the Antarctic
4:42 - The Route Plan
11:20 - The Briefing
23:30 - The Overnight Waypoint Change
38:15 - The Descent Logic and Company Culture
50:50 - Whiteout and the Final Chain of Events
1:02:15 - Aftermath and Lessons
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Below you will find the links to videos and sources used in this episode.

SOURCES
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The "Chippendale report" : https://www.fss.aero/accident-reports/dvdfiles/NZ/1979-11-28-NZ.pdf
The "Mahon report": https://gg.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2021-06/RC%20136%20Crash%20on%20Mt%20Erebus.pdf
https://www.erebus.co.nz/
Extra footage:
https://youtu.be/VVtllgMagVw?si=I-uMcQiTzg1uCkCS
https://youtu.be/TDFz14-_21w?si=3RnaKpbKazp1aeU9
https://youtu.be/D36iV78gLpg?si=IpH4cnhU-je3b6yp



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