On the 40th anniversary of the Erebus disaster, Grant Colbran thought about the moment he found out both of his parents had been killed in the plane crash.
A 19-year-old studying at the University of Otago, he had returned home to the family farm in Makarewa for university holidays when he got the news on November 28, 1979.
His parents, 49-year-old Cyril — known as Bernard — and 45-year-old Yvonne Colbran had been killed.
"I was at home and my neighbours heard something on the radio about a crash, so came over to tell me."
His life and the life of his three siblings had been "changed forever".
His parents had won the tickets in a radio quiz and the whole family was excited about the trip, he said.
Seeing the pair off was to be the last time he saw them.
Mr Colbran said the footage of a plane flying over the site on television the day after the crash was one of the few pieces of information he was given.
"I remember the All Blacks were playing Argentina late one night and the police gave me a call.
"They said they still hadn’t found anything and the likelihood wasn’t looking high."
The response from Air New Zealand was poor, he said.
"I feel sorry for the pilots and their families because Air New Zealand did place a lot of the blame on them.
"Sadly they couldn’t accept their mistake and move on.
"They’re still cleaning it up after all this time."
In 2011, Mr Colbran went to the Antarctic, which he said was an important part of the healing process for him.
"It was good to go over and get some of their perspective.
"It didn’t make it right but it helped."
Now running an engineering firm in Invercargill, Mr Colbran said yesterday, the 40th anniversary of the tragedy, was a time for quiet reflection.
"It’s just another one like all the rest, but it does bring up memories."
All 257 people on board the plane, including 200 New Zealanders, were killed when it crashed into Mt Erebus.
Eight were from the Otago/Southland area.
