Christchurch man recounts Erebus crash scene | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Ray Goldring is a realistic man in the face of tragedy.

The Spreydon 60-year-old was one of the first people on the Ice following the 1979 Erebus disaster in his role as safety officer of the site.

He said the enormity of the situation was hard to deal with.

"But I quickly realised I couldn't be emotionally involved. I came to realise that the 257 on board died instantly. They weren't people that were there, they were dead meat on the ground. That was the way I had to think of it so I could cope," Goldring said.

His job was to look after the Douglas Aircraft Company employees, Air New Zealand staff, General Electric engineers and the aircraft investigator when they got to the site of the horrific crash.

He had already been working on the Ice in the same role looking after scientific researchers.

"I had to watch out for crevasses," Goldring said.

He also searched for victims to bring back to New Zealand for burial and parts of plane wreckage.

"I found the last individual, a lady that was part of the cabin crew. When everyone else was finished waiting to be lifted I went back to the cockpit area, which had separated from the main fuselage, to dig for more plane parts and this ankle appeared.

"If I hadn't been digging she would have been left there," Goldring said.

Just last year he met the woman's husband in the Coromandel.

"I wanted to tell him the truth of what happened so I tracked him down," he said.

After leaving the site, all those involved in the recovery operation received titanium ice axes from the Douglas Aircraft Company.

Goldring was also given a ball bearing from the DC10 by one of the engineers and carved a small memorial sculpture in which the piece sits.

"I keep the sculpture, ice axe and photographs out in the lounge as a constant reminder," he said.