Footage shows final minutes of passengers before plane crashed into volcano killing 257 people

A chilling video is thought to have captured travellers preparing to embark on a sightseeing trip they’d never return from.

On November 28, 1979, globetrotters boarded Air New Zealand Flight 901 at Auckland International Airport - ready to view the Antarctic from its cabin windows.

Alongside the 237 passengers was a guide, employed to point out important landmarks and provide interesting tidbits on the ice-covered land.

Air New Zealand Flight 901 never made it back from its journey. (Reddit)

The exciting trip, piloted by experienced aviators Captain Thomas James ‘Jim’ Collins and First Officer Gregory Mark ‘Greg’ Cassin, set off at 8am local time.

The flight was due to head around Antarctica, touch down in Christchurch for a refuel and then head back to Auckland to finish the extraordinary round trip.

However, Flight 901 unfortunately never made it to its destination due to the plane crashing into a volcano.

It’s said that during the flight, the pilots lowered the plane below a safe altitude so that passengers and staff could get a good look at the landscape.

However, layers of clouds and snow blinded the aircrew, meaning they couldn’t recognise that they were flying the DC-10 into a disaster zone.

The suspected last moments of Flight 901 passengers was caught on film. (RNZ)

As guests feasted their eyes on the barren ground below, Captain Collins and Cassin switched to autopilot.

It’s thought that just moments before Flight 901 crashed into Antarctica’s second tallest active volcano, Mount Erebus, footage was captured on board.

In the clip, shared via New Zealand’s public broadcaster RNZ, guests on board could be seen walking up aisles and sipping on drinks.

The chilling video also captured guests taking photographs out of the window as they seemingly thought they were flying along McMurdo Sound.

Instead, the pilots had taken them over Lewis Bay and were on course to crash into Mount Erebus.

There were no survivors of the plane crash. (RNZ)

Just seconds before impact, Flight 901’s warning system signalled.

With no time to react, the aircrew was unable to change course and the sightseeing plane crashed into the side of the volcano and exploded.

Of the 237 passengers and 20 crew members, an inquest confirmed that there were no survivors of the accident.

Following the 1979 disaster, canisters of film were recovered from the scene.

One image, thought to have been captured at the moment of the plane’s impact, featured fluid on the window, speculated to have been fuel.

An investigation into the crash found that Collins, Cassin and Flight Engineer Gordon Barrett Brooks had been briefed before the tour.

However, they had expected to complete a different flight plan to the one featured on the plane’s computer.

Therefore, it was conducted that the team expected to fly past Mount Erebus rather than straight towards it.

Topics: New Zealand, World News, Antarctica