The grandchildren of Captain Jim Collins and his wife, Maria, were among the youngest people in Auckland's packed Holy Trinity Cathedral when hundreds gathered on a sunny Sunday evening to honour those killed 40 years ago on Mt Erebus.
Two of the three grandchildren cradled the roll of honour bearing the names of those killed - 237 passengers and 20 crew - on Flight 901 in crash on November 28, 1979, in Antarctica.
The girls lay the roll to rest beneath a Tree of Life, made from branches woven together by the many gathered for the 40th Anniversary Service in Parnell.
![NZ Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy places a memorial branch on the Tree of Life at the Erebus crash memorial service. Photo / Peter Meecham](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/SRZPAGU2DHLBBAYFSNMIRKRUKE.jpg?auth=40e091f1201e977da34b41da4fc8ef640b4ba641640cab661e26a7006bcbda9a&width=16&height=12&quality=70&smart=true)
Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy, MP David Seymour, Auckland mayor Phil Goff and Malcolm White, Master of the Honourable Company of Air Pilots, were among those at the service.