Story: Air crashes

The recovery team (3rd of 3)

The recovery team

More than 60 people were involved in recovering bodies and inspecting the wreckage over several weeks. The extreme weather conditions at the site and numerous crevasses made this task dangerous as well as emotionally challenging. The entire area was marked out in a grid pattern with red flags, and body parts and personal effects, flagged green, were numbered according to this plan to assist with identification. Eventually, 214 of the 257 victims were identified.

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How to cite this page:

Nancy Swarbrick, 'Air crashes - The 1979 Erebus crash ', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/photograph/6557/the-recovery-team (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Nancy Swarbrick, published 12 Jun 2006