Keith Osborne
The smell of aviation fuel instantly triggers memories of New Zealand's biggest disaster for two local men who had roles in the recovery and aftermath of the Mt Erebus crash.
Field safety mountaineer for the Department of Conservation Dr Harry Keys from Taupo and Rotorua funeral director Keith Osborne are keen to watch the documentary, Erebus: Operation Overdue, which will be screened tomorrow night on TV One.
It tells the story of 11 Kiwi police officers sent to recover the remains of the crash on the Air New Zealand flight which slammed into Mt Erebus on November 28, 1979.
Dr Keys, an experienced Antarctic climber and mountaineer, helped recover some of the 257 bodies of passengers and crew killed.
He said he would definitely be watching but was apprehensive on how accurate it would be. He arrived at the site a day after the crash and he and fellow mountaineers were roped up to the initial crash investigators.
"We went down and found all the instruments, the captain's body, the unidentified bodies, the first of the black boxes and went back after tea and found the other black box before continuing with the body recovery.
"We worked 12-hour shifts, with two or three teams working at a time." he said.
"I still remember them [the bodies], certainly working with the bodies and injuries isn't easy, we all coped in different ways.
"The smell of kerosene, the aviation gas, is a smell I'll always remember, the plane had burst into fire.
"Quite a few of us had nightmares, I had nightmares, but I found the psychological debrief quite valuable, it allowed you to let it all out and six months later, I was fine."
Dr Keys said despite previous accounts, the plane crashed on a gentle snow slope of about 15 degrees covered with snow not ice.
"I think my biggest fear of this documentary is that they overdramatise it or give a false impression of what happened, after 35 years it's still very fresh but I do think these documentaries help in remembering an incredible event in New Zealand history.
"I think the police did a great job but I think the hardest job of all would have been the pathologist in Auckland dealing with so many bodies." One of the men who worked directly with the victims was Rotorua funeral director Keith Osborne who was called up from Hamilton at the time to Auckland to help with identification, embalming and the returning the bodies to their loved ones. Mr Osborne received a New Zealand Special Service Medal for his work.
"It was pretty staggering, it wasn't like anything I ever encountered previous, it was pretty astonishing really.
"One thing that stands out is the smell of aviation fuel, a trip to Auckland International Airport certainly brings back memories."
Mr Osborne said he worked with a close knit group of people in the mortuary who supported each other. "It was long days, 12-14 hours and from start to finish about six weeks.
"During that time we just focused our attention in just getting through the sheer volume of work.
"The only long lasting effect for me is the aviation gas, I think funeral directors are a special breed of person and the fact we had so much support among ourselves."
Mr Osborne said he would be watching the documentary "with interest".
"I think it's important for everyone to remember the individuals who died in the Erebus disaster and recognise the efforts of those who retrieved the individuals and those people involved in Auckland, it was such a huge task," he said.
Erebus: Operation Overdue is on TV One tomorrow night at 8.30pm.