Peter Mulgrew, Hillary's long time friend died on the Air New Zealand Flight 901 (TE901). This was a scheduled Antarctic sightseeing flight from Auckland International Airport. The Antarctic sightseeing flights were operated with McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 aircraft and began in February 1977, with this being the 14th flight. On 28 November 1979 the flight crashed in Antarctica, killing all 237 passengers and 20 crew members aboard. Sir Edmund Hillary had been scheduled to act as the guide for the fatal flight, but cancelled due to other commitments. In his place long-time friend and climbing companion, Peter Mulgrew, stood in as guide.

Fifteen years earlier in 1964 'No Place for Men' was published. Mulgrew shared his account of Hillary's 1960 expedition to Makalu where he experimented with the effects of high altitude climbing without oxygen.