There were also massive holes in the snow, big enough that anyone who fell through one couldn't get back out. There was a huge amount of jagged metal wreckage and potentially dangerous gas cylinders from the aircraft. Green flags identified body remains and Crevasses in the slope were marked with red danger flags. There were already different coloured flags at the site identifying different contents of the site. The crash site was approximately 760m above sea level and was on a 14 degree slope and extended 700m long and 120m wide. No person on the flight survived the crash. It was at this time that the team decided it was evident there was no chance of survival. The team were unable to fathom how such a large aircraft could have been torn into so many pieces. Due to the aircraft still containing fuel at the moment of impact, this acted as a catalyst for the aircraft's destruction. When they arrived, they saw utter destruction of the aircraft and remains everywhere. On Monday 3rd December at 8:30am, the team deployed to the crash site. They accommodated there also.ĭue to the weather, the deployment of the team was withheld, so in the interim they underwent survival training with the mountain safety personnel on Ross Island. The team stayed at the American Navy Base at McMurdo Sound where were made very welcome with all the facilities of the Base at their convenience. They arrived in the early hours of the 30th of November. ![]() ![]() The team flew to Christchurch where they were equipped with what they needed and from there at 5:15pm on the 29th November flew to Williams Field, McMurdo Sound. There were also aware of what they were about to walk into but had no experience on the snow and therefore were unsure what to expect once they got there. Prior to the operation being announced, the team were expecting to be called out after hearing the news. This operation was named 'Operation Overdue' and was lead by Inspector Robert Mitchell and had four non-commissioned officers and six constables from all around New Zealand. This group comprised of Search and Rescue and Disaster Victim Identification Squad members. The New Zealand Police, days later, sent a group to the scene. This saw them find the wreckage later that night.Īt 10:00PM that night, Air New Zealand Chief Executive Officer Morrie Davis made the official announcement that the flight had been assumed lost, because by then it would have been exhausted of it's fuel supply. A United States Air Force Starlifter also joined the search by following the flight course from McMurdo Sound back to Christchurch, the man Captaining the Starlifter Major Bruce Gumble was not successful in finding the wreckage.Īfter having no success in locating the aircraft, the search was expanded to the east and west of Ross Island. The Royal New Zealand Air Force sent a P3-B orion from Auckland to search the waters between Antarctica and New Zealand for the wreckage of the flight. ![]() McMurdo Sound then launched an additional six aircraft at 4:16PM to join the search. At 3.43PM the United States began searching for the missing flight TE-901 dispatching an LC-130 aircraft and two UH-1N helicopters were already searching McMurdo Sound. On November 28 1979, due to the plane losing communications for several hours and of course not arriving at it's destination, the officials at Air New Zealand grew concerned about the fact the flight TE-902 was well overdue.
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