Cause of Mount Erebus Plane Crash?

Answer 1

Mix up of coordinates in the flight computer combined with a special antarctic whiteout condition, flying lower than leagally allowed, and flight crew not correctly trained for antarctic flight. As is the case with most aircraft accidents its not just one factor but a series of things that caused it. When the ground proximity warning went off the pilots could have climbed fast enough to avoid the crash but due to the whiteout condition the pilots had no idea they were headed at a mountain, and thinking they were flying over open water due to the coordinate error, did as they were trained and started a slow 15 degree climb which wasnt fast enough to miss the mountain. The rules for how low a passenger jet can fly allows for no less than 6000 feet for a number of safety reasons such as stall recovery and accidently straying into mountains. This flight was flying under 1500 feet for sightseeing purposes (they had special permission to fly at 4500 so they were flying illegally low). There is a good reason for flight rules! You can check wikipedia.com for a full narative of the accident that is accurate: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_New_Zealand_Flight_901