Son to finish Antarctic trip for his parents

Andrew Bond today goes to the memorial site at Scott Base for a service with 103 others. Photo / NZPA

His parents were never able to complete their trip, so Andrew Bond is going to do it for them.

Robbie and Marilyn Bond were both passengers on the Air New Zealand DC-10 that crashed into Mt Erebus on November 28, 1979 - Andrew Bond's birthday - claiming the lives of all 257 people on board.

Mr Bond might have been on the flight with his parents if not for a clash with school exams.

Today, weather permitting, he will be one of 104 relatives of Erebus victims travelling to Scott Base for a memorial service.

"I'm hoping to get a real feel for doing the trip that my parents wanted to do," Mr Bond said.

"Being able to go where they went, but to do the trip and be able to come home. To complete it in a way that they would have wanted to complete it."

Mr Bond said that while the trip would be tinged with sadness, he was more excited than anything to see his parents' resting place for the first time.

If weather does not allow today's trip on board a Royal New Zealand Air Force Boeing 757, there are back-up days available through to Saturday.

The severe climate conditions - the temperature was -15C yesterday - mean it will not be possible for the family members to get to the crash site, but it is hoped they will be able to view Mt Erebus.

In November 2009, five victims' relatives were flown to Antarctica to mark the 30th anniversary of the loss.

Air New Zealand chief executive Rob Fyfe said many families expressed a strong desire to visit Antarctica and "connect emotionally with the place where they lost a loved one".

"It will be a very emotional time, a very difficult time for many, but we hope also it will be part of the healing process."

Mr Fyfe said it would have been ideal to have also accommodated representatives of 25 other families missing out on this trip. But there was not enough space on the aircraft, and Air New Zealand will keep lobbying the Government for another trip in future.

"To be honest, it's not really a cost issue. [But Antarctica] is a very difficult environment to operate in. There's a whole range of reasons for people to be in that environment, and we just have to evaluate this priority amongst those other priorities. And they are very difficult decisions for the Government to make. I don't envy them in making those choices."