Forty-two years ago today 257 people died when an Air New Zealand sightseeing flight crashed into Antarctica's Mt Erebus.

To mark the 40th anniversary, Herald reporter Cherie Howie tracked down family of passengers and crew all over the world to ask them to write about their loved ones.

This interactive memorial, by data journalist Chris Knox and telling the stories of those killed in New Zealand's worst peacetime disaster, was the result.

We heard about the former junior All Black who never met his unborn namesake, the newly engaged, the newlywed and the newly retired.

There were also the loving parents whose children gifted them tickets, and the war veteran who won his seat by guessing the weight of a block of ice at a mall opening. And then there were the teenagers just starting their adult lives.

Adventurous souls all, off to see a frozen frontier in their shirtsleeves.

For those we hadn't heard from, we combed the archives for details. If your relative is one of those we could not find family for, and you would like to send a tribute and photo, please email cherie.howie@nzme.co.nz

See data journalist Chris Knox's interactive below. The victims appear in alphabetical order. Click on a face to see a name. Click again to jump to their story.