White Silence

On November 28, 1979, an Air New Zealand jet took off from Auckland Airport on a sightseeing trip to Antarctica. There were 257 people on board. Hours later everyone was dead. Somehow, the plane had flown directly into the Erebus volcano. This was a disaster that shattered a country’s psyche. In the decades since, grief gave way to blame, anger and recrimination. Who was responsible for so many deaths? Was there a cover-up? How could a plane just fly into a mountain? To mark the 40th anniversary of the disaster, Michael Wright and Katy Gosset explore why New Zealand’s deadliest disaster was also its most controversial; why a nation was incapable of moving on; and how it was captured by one famous phrase: ‘an orchestrated litany of lies’. White Silence will be released daily from November 8, 2019.

Introducing: The Trial - Philip Polkinghorne
Aug 2, 2024 – 28:50
Episode Eight - The Apology
Dec 19, 2019 – 33:03
Episode Seven - Playing Through
Nov 27, 2019 – 40:55
Episode Six - White Silence
Nov 12, 2019 – 55:22
Episode Five - New World Order
Nov 11, 2019 – 46:01
Episode Four - The Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock
Nov 10, 2019 – 48:25
Episode Three - All hell
Nov 9, 2019 – 54:47
Episode Two - The caravan
Nov 8, 2019 – 55:23
Episode One - The break-in
Nov 7, 2019 – 38:24
White Silence - Trailer
Nov 6, 2019 – 02:47

Recent Reviews

Mastercast Reviews

White Silence - No Spoilers!

41 years ago Flight 901 took off from New Zealand on a sightseeing mission over Antarctica with 257 people on board. 4 hours, 4 minutes and 42 seconds into the flight the plane descended; crashing into the lower slopes of Mount Erebus killing everyone on board and launching one of the biggest investigations the industry has ever seen. The disaster caused a years long court battle, permanent mandatory changes to aircraft radar, accusations (and quite a bit of evidence) of a coverup, and a huge loss still felt through New Zealand even today. This podcast uses court transcripts as well as testimony from professionals involved and family accounts to discuss all of these aspects while trying to get to the bottom of who was at fault for the death of so many. It has 4.7 stars on Apple Podcasts with 48 ratings and a gold medal New York Festivals Radio Awards 2020. The eight part miniseries is produced and hosted by Katy Gosset with production help from Michael Wright. Each part is on average 34 minutes long with the show starting and wrapping up in 2019. Trigger warning for airplane crashes, depiction and recovery of the dead, and strong language. Similar Pods: Our Thing Podcast, Black Box Down, Floodlines, Frozen Lies, A Perfect Storm: The True Story of the Chamberlains, Unexplained Mysteries, Noble Blood, History! This Week, The 50 Year Secret, Black Sheep, Erebus Flight 901: Litany of lies? Airspace More reviews on insta @themastercast
YGlen

Another engaging podcast from RNZ

Very well done - thank you!
ChrisTravRi

Totally hooked

Two episodes in and totally hooked. It’s wonderfully produced so far, with a deft handling of the technically complex elements. I’m an American listener and not all that familiar with the tragedy, but I also come to it as a true crime buff and aviation nerd. In Ep. 2, I was particularly impressed with how they explained a complex technical aspect of the tragedy relating to destination waypoints. The only thing that’s keeping me from powering through all the episodes faster is that I don’t want to it to end so quickly.