Ice tragedy revisited | Canterbury News | Local News in Canterbury

Twenty-five years ago this was Wendy Minards (on the right), photographed at Christchurch Airport waiting in fear for news of what had happened to flight 901.

On board the Air New Zealand DC10 was 19-year-old Robert Preston, a close friend and workmate.

The photograph of Minards and the man comforting her was published around the world, a poignant illustration of the distress friends and family of the 257 people on board the ill-fated flight to the Antarctic were going through.

On Sunday Minards, now 44, will reflect as she always does at this time of the year on New Zealand's worst tragedy.

She still lives in Canterbury and still finds it difficult to come to terms with the crash, which claimed Preston's life.

Speaking to the Christchurch Star yesterday, Minards said she worked with Preston at Databank in Hornby. She was 18 at the time.

On November 28, 1979, she was going out for drinks when she saw a newsflash on television saying the flight to Antarctica was missing.

She and Preston's best friend, who also worked at Databank and was in the photograph with her, went straight to Christchurch Airport to sit with Preston's parents Alister and Isabel.

It was there that Star photographer John McCombe snapped the pair. They did not know the photo had been taken.

The following day she was shocked when she saw it on the front page.

McCombe, now one of New Zealand's top freelance photographers, said the photo was one of the saddest he had shot during his career in terms of emotion.

"It was hard to be professional and not be affected by the event because it was such a catastrophe," he said.

Just one year before McCombe had been on the inaugural flight to Antarctica himself.

"I knew exactly what they (passengers) would be doing because I had experienced it myself. They would have been in jovial moods, there were drinks, awesome food, beautiful sights.

"I think that picture captures the essence of the tragedy well. It kept the anonymity of the people but captured the grief of the situation," he said.

Minards said Preston was excited about the trip to Antarctica. He had even asked her boyfriend at the time to go with him and talked about it often at work.

"It feels like it was just last year. This time of year brings back all the memories. Just about everybody in New Zealand was touched in some way.

She said he was a nice guy who had been missed by a lot of people. "We all used to do so much together on the weekends. When we worked the twilight shift we would finish and go out for drinks afterwards.

"He would do anything. He was just a great guy," she said. Preston's father, Alister, said his son had always wanted to see Antarctica. Although reluctant to talk much about the tragedy, he said it never got easier to deal with. "It still cuts close to home at this time of year, regardless of how many years go by," Alister Preston said.

The manager of Databank at the time, Joseph Kubiak, said he remembered Robert Preston as "a good worker, popular amongst the staff.

It was quite a shock to all of us. Some staff were very upset at the time, he said.

Kubiak said it affected the work place for years after. "Losing one of our young staff was a big blow," he said.