Ice pack

You wouldn’t think live sheep and a pretty sunset would get you to Antarctica but in a roundabout way, that was how the tale unfolded when Alan Terrell gave a talk to members and guests of the Berrima Townlife Association. Sophie Graham was there to hear the story.

In the mid-seventies, commercial pilot Alan Terrell was on the way back from flying sheep to the far south of Chile, which, since its sheep indutry had all but collapsed at that time, needed help to restock. Facing adverse weather conditions, Alan was forced to adjust his course and as the plane headed first north then south then north again, he was treated to a series of sunsets and sunrises. This is a phenomenon found when travelling through such high latitudes, and one that he had not experienced before. The effect was both beautiful and inspiring, and one of the things it inspired was an idea that eventually led to the commencement of commercial flights to Antarctica.

Alan’s father had himself been very interested in Antarctica. It was born of pride in the British Empire and particularly, exploration. He had been fascinated by the story of Scott’s time in the Antarctic. Alan appreciated this history, saw the novelty of flight in these high latitudes, and with Australia’s important ties to the region, he felt the public could well be interested in flights there.

He approached Operation Deep Freeze (the American Antarctic mission) in Christchurch who expressed outright hostility to any commercial flights. Undeterred, Alan went over their heads to their Washington headquarters where his proposal was approved.

He also approached the then Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in Australia about what would be required to turn the idea into reality and though not opposed , there were obstacles to overcome. It required safety precautions well beyond the usual, such as emergency rations and space blankets.

Next, he got in touch with Dick Smith, who took on the cost of chartering the plane himself, selling seats on the flight and so made the entire operation financially viable.

With all preparations in place, the first flight took off on 13 February, 1977. From the start these flights were a success and the experience of flying over the remarkable landscapes of George V Land and the Australian and French Antarctic territories would not be forgotten by anyone fortunate enough to have been on board. They tried to look for traces of Mawson’s hut as they flew over the area but had no luck.

Early flights went as low as 1500 feet over pack ice and 5000 feet along the coast. However, this changed following the Mt Erebus disaster.

On 28 November, 1979, Air New Zealand flight 901 crashed into Mt Erebus as the result of a series of small but cumulatively catastrophic errors, killing all on board. This was, and still is, the worst peacetime disaster in New Zealand’s history and it shook that country to its core.

“It was said that there wasn’t a village in New Zealand unaffected by the crash,” Alan explains, going on to add that Air New Zealand flights to Antarctica were permanently cancelled, never to resume. Australian flights to Antarctica also stopped, as a result of passengers being understandably put off by the disaster. In time, Qantas flights to Antarctica began once more, but were restricted to a minimum 20,000 feet.

Alan piloted four flights to Antarctica himself and remembers the experience fondly. On one occasion he arranged to speak to the School of the Air from Antarctica, giving students all over outback Australia a rare insight into the cockpit and over the frozen south.

“I was chairman of the Royal Flying Doctor Service at the time and went to Broken Hill quite often, and of course I’d got to know them (the School of the Air) quite well,” he says.

The Australian government recently restated its commitment to the protection of the Antarctic, something Alan sees as an encouraging, and entirely necessary, move.

“Let us preserve this beautiful land,” he says.