A train crash at Tangiwai in 1953 had left 151 people dead and the Wahine ferry disaster in 1968 had killed 51 people. The Mt 
Erebus crash was the third in that list and by far the deadliest.

"So you had this really interesting moment with those disasters because they really called into question that narrative of 
technological progress and control," Mr Light explains.

That legal battle came swiftly and was a second blow after the crash itself. New Zealanders were shocked by the failure to 
properly identify what had happened and by the bitter accusations.