Snakecharma: weather at LST was ok by the time they were half way back to MEL. Bad luck I guess but it just doesn’t make sense to divert back to MEL, I’ll bet they refueled in MEL and went back to LST with the same Aircraft and crew.
I can’t see the problem diverting to HBA as long as the weather is ok, which it was. Followed by a quick gas and go back to LST, they could have been on the ground in LST before they’d even left MEL and maybe only about 1 hour late overall. 1 hour late won’t screw up the duty hours or Aircraft rotation schedule surely. I guess using 20/20 hindsight is a wonderful thing!! But the Fog/low cloud would have been bound to lift fairly quickly.
I’ve been flying for quite a while and done my share of diversions so I’m aware of all the operational considerations. Anyway I don’t have the background info in this case, just curious as to why a Dash 8 wouldn’t hold a close suitable Alternate. I guess Ops have other ideas.
Maybe the CN had an ex wife in HBA he didn’t want to see
