the Pilots of a sightseeingfly got wrongfully blamed for an accident in 1979, which claimed the lives of 257 people.

New Zealand's prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has on Thursday apologised to the families of the 257 people who died in a plane crash on Mount Erebus on 29. november 1979.

the Accident happened when a sightseeingfly from Air New Zealand flew into Mount Erebus - a 3794 metre-high volcano on Ross Island in Antarctica.

Jacinda Ardern apologize for the then government's handling of the accident in Antarctica 40 years ago.

- After 40 years - on behalf of the current government - it is time to apologize for the acts committed by an air carrier that was government-owned. These actions caused, ultimately, the loss of the aircraft and the loss of them, In the beloved, says Ardern at a memorial service in Auckland.

This writes the news agency dpa.

At the commemoration is also chairman of the board hd porno of Air New Zealand Therese Walsh to the present.

- I apologize on behalf of the airline for the way in which the families of those who lost their lives on Mount Erebus, was treated in the aftermath of the accident, she says.

In an initial report got the aircraft's pilots to blame for the accident. However, in 1981, took a commission, that the main reason for the accident was the airline's reprogramming of the aircraft's navigation system, which it had not informed the crew about.

- the Pilots were not responsible for this tragedy, " says Jacinda Ardern.

- However, these conclusions were not accepted by our government at the time. It was wrong. It caused trauma on top of the grief.

this is The first time that the new zealand government and Air New Zealand has apologised to the bereaved.

Of the 257 killed were 237 passengers and 20 crew members. Most of the fatalities were from New Zealand, but there were also other nationalities in among, including americans, canadians, japanese and australians.

the President of the commission study, Peter Mahon, claimed at the time that witnesses from Air New Zealand had conspired and provided false evidence.

He described the carrier's defense as "an orchestrated litany of lies", writes the news agency Reuters.

mahon's controversial statements led to the fact that his report was criticised by both Air New Zealand and the government.

/ritzau/