‘Many triggers’ a constant reminder of Mt Erebus recovery operation

On 28 November 1979 Kiwis united together in horror when 257 people died in an Air New Zealand aircraft crash on Antarctica’s Mt Erebus.


Twenty-five years later, the police officers involved in the body recovery on the mountainside, admit there isn’t a day they don’t think about the things they saw and experienced. Three officers are still in police: Inspector Greg Gilpin (Wellington), Inspector Stu Leighton (Christchurch) and Senior Constable Bruce Thompson (Auckland). Ten-One spoke to Greg and Stu on the anniversary of the crash. Bruce was away on leave.

Both Greg and Stu say the smell of diesel or aviation fuel is still a strong reminder of the eight days they spent on the side of Mt Erebus. “There are so many triggers,” says Stu. “Aviation fuel, Air New Zealand blazers or logos.” The pair were part of a group of 11 police that flew by Hercules to Antarctica after flight TE901 crashed. Greg and Stu, both working in Wellington at the time, had recently attended a newly instigated DVI course – a new concept within NZ Police. “On the day of the crash we had a revision day,” says Greg. “I can remember there was a cop who had been in the job 30 years saying we would never have to use it,” says Stu.

Greg had been in police 14 years at the time and was used to dealing with fatalities. Stu, at 22, had been in the police five years and was also used to dealing with sudden death. Both, however, had hardly been in snow. “I was thinking this is the coldest region in the world and we would be working on the side of a mountain,” says Greg. “How do you pack when you’ve never been in snow and it’s all unknown,” agreed Stu. “All you can do is steel yourself.”

Arriving in Antarctica, they could see the black smudge of the crashed aircraft against the pristine white snow. “The sun was golden and it was so beautiful,” says Greg.


However, weather delayed the journey onto the mountainside from McMurdo Station where the group was staying. Greg was appointed site coordinator and Stu was in one of the teams of four people: two police officers, a mountain safety guide and a US Navy photographer. Greg and Stu were the first two police officers on site. The helicopter could not land because of the weather, so the group jumped down onto the snow – and then had to chase their DVI suitcases which started to slide down the mountain.

Human remains, personal belongings and aircraft pieces lay scattered over a 700m by 120m area. “We walked over the site and it was quite clear that no one had survived the impact,” says Greg. “It was difficult having to deal with the enormity of the crash,” says Stu. “The true story can never be told. People still have no idea what we really experienced and had to deal with.”

The group hadn’t been on the mountain long when a massive storm forced them to shelter in tents for hours. “We wondered how we were going to survive, the winds were so strong,” says Greg. “There was an indescribable buffeting. The storm could have lasted 10 days and we only had food for two days,” says Stu.

Once it passed, the task at hand began. “Extreme care was needed because there was jagged metal over the entire site and crevasses at the rear of the site,” says Greg. “Our priority was to recover all the bodies possible.” He drew a grid of the site and teams started working through each section – photographing and marking bodies in position, and placing them in bags. The two teams worked solidly for 20 hours before other teams arrived on the moutain. An around the clock operation then began. A total of 348 bodies and body parts were recovered and 213 passengers were eventually identified.

Once the bodies had been recovered, the teams swept the area for personal property – which Stu says was the hardest part of the operation. In one journal, the person had recorded seeing Antarctica for the first time and the last words were “Gee it’s great to be alive”. “How do you experience something like that and it not affect you,” says Stu. “You can’t dehumanise it.”

Greg also admits the experience changed him. Both agree the level of support upon their return was limited, with only one week off work and minimal counselling. “In those days you didn’t talk about it,” says Stu. “But our subsequent reactions were perfectly normal to a perfectly abnormal situation.”

They were also disappointed with the lack of recognition. “This was the biggest operation NZ Police had been involved in, and had been completed so successfully,” says Greg.

“I think a lot about the size of it and what was involved. It comes to my mind most days. The teams did an incredible job and in excellent time.”