Regarding the ditching of WJC. There is little doubt that the R (rescue) part of the SAR action could have been handled a lot better. That was 36 years ago, and most people today won’t understand how primitive facilities were at that time. No GPS, few helicopters, commiunications were limited ( 727s would go HF a few hundred kms west of Brisbane). The SAR team could have done better. Many of the SARMCs were ex wartime pilots, some were really smart and competent guys, and frequently conducted successful SAR missions. So, one bad effort, but many very good efforts as well. I think it’s offensive to make out that the DCA and later SAR people were generally poor performers.
So SAR was a ballsup in this event; what about other players, the pilot? WJC was approaching half way across the strait, and reported a low fuel indication, and quickly decided to ditch whilst he still had power. Think about that: floating around Bass Strait, about maximum distance from land, midwinter, with survival chances practically nil (it was amazing that the F27 managed to find the location, considering nav aids at the time). I remember that day very clearly, a screaming N/NW wind was blowing, the aircraft was only 60 nm or so from Devonport. I have always wondered why they didn’t immediately turn towards DPO. If they in fact did run out of noise, they would have been a lot closer to help, and they would have bought more time for assistance to be arranged. Why would one choose to go for a swim with survival chances minimum to practically nil, when the engines were still running, and may have made it to a relatively close suitable runway?
We’ll never know, but I’m pretty sure there was more than one ballsup on that day.