40 years after the Erebus disaster, there is still no national memorial to the victims and no consensus on exactly what happened that day in 1979. Why has New Zealand been so hopelessly unable to deal with its worst-ever disaster?

Episode Six - White Silence

On November 28, 1979, an Air New Zealand jet took off from Auckland Airport on a sightseeing trip to Antarctica. There were 257 people on board. Hours later everyone was dead. Somehow, the plane had flown directly into the Erebus volcano. This was a disaster that shattered a country’s psyche. In the decades since, grief gave way to blame, anger and recrimination. Who was responsible for so many deaths? Was there a cover-up? How could a plane just fly into a mountain? To mark the 40th anniversary of the disaster, Michael Wright and Katy Gosset explore why New Zealand’s deadliest disaster was also its most controversial; why a nation was incapable of moving on; and how it was captured by one famous phrase: ‘an orchestrated litany of lies’. White Silence will be released daily from November 8, 2019.

Society & Culture

Personal Journals

History

Philosophy

Places & Travel

Documentary

Listen to the first episode of Stuff’s major new podcast, The Commune, a 12-part investigation into the notorious free-love commune, Centrepoint. There are crimes. But this isn’t a whodunnit. It’s a whydunnit. Subscribe at www.stuff.co.nz/thecommune
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing The Commune: Sex, drugs – and a guru called Bert

Listen to the first episode of Stuff's major new podcast, The Commune, a 12-part investigation into the notorious free-love commune, Centrepoint. There are crimes. But this isn't a whodunnit. It's a whydunnit. Subscribe at www.stuff.co.nz/thecommune

Introducing The Commune: Sex, drugs - and a guru called Bert

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to White Silence about her decision to say sorry to the families of the Erebus victims: "It all built a picture for me of unfinished business, and that wasn't right."

Episode Eight - The Apology

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks to White Silence about her decision to say sorry to the families of the Erebus victims: “It all built a picture for me of unfinished business, and that wasn't right.”
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A special bonus episode of White Silence for November 28 - the anniversary of the Erebus disaster. Bringing together stories from listeners like Air NZ staff who had to work through the tragedy, a teenager's 40-year trauma finally brought to a close and an unlikely golf tournament played in the shadow of Erebus.

Episode Six - White Silence

Download our free app to listen on your phone