Air New Zealand 's first scenic flight took place on 15 February 1977 and was followed by five more that year , then four each in 1978 and 1979 . The flights were operated with McDonnell-Douglas DC-10s and departed from Auckland , flying over Ross Island to McMurdo Sound before returning to Auckland with a fuel stop in Christchurch . Later flights flew down the middle of the Sound and over Scott Base rather than over Ross Island as the aircraft could descend to a low altitude to provide better visibility for passengers . Many flights carried experienced Antarctic researchers as guides , including on at least one occasion Sir Edmund Hillary , and lasted roughly 12 hours with approximately four of them over or near the Antarctic mainland . Air New Zealand cancelled and never resumed their Antarctic flying programme in the aftermath of the TE901 disaster , where a route planning error lead to the aircraft crashing into Mount Erebus on 28 November 1979 with the loss of all 257 lives aboard
TE901
Air New Zealand Flight 901
Tourism in Antarctica