PH6
If Collins (who was not VMC at 2000' - what other reason was there to descend further) had climbed out at 2000' rather than descending further to 1500', the accident might have been averted.
They could have been at A060 below a BKN070 layer with vis 50km+ and likely speared in just the same on the same track. The only difference would be the wreckage ~3nm further south. Quibbling over the descent to 1500 is immaterial. I'm certainly not condoning his actions, but it's not really relevant to the systemic issues at play.
Thirdly - if by "whiteout" you mean the whole "false horizon" hypothesis - that too is just a theory.
We'll never know
exactly what they saw. But we can't paint a pretty accurate picture from the photos out the side windows. As you likely recall, I've been there and seen similar conditions first hand- and posted the photos to a previous thread before photo bucket killed the internet. Whiteout might be a theory, but it's a bloody good one, and noone has come up with any plausible alternative.
Descent below LSALT should never have been related to VMC in those flight orders, It should have been related to what we now define as SKC or SCT at most - and 30km+ vis.
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addendum 1... whilst looking for the map list in the Chippendale report for my post below, I found the following quote which is relevant to this one:
"2.17 Whiteout conditions can exist within the normal VMC minima and even in the conditions defined by Air New Zealand as the minima for VMC descents to 6000 feet."
addendum 2:
PH6 stated
Disagree. Firstly - no other pilot descended below 2000'
Chippendale Report says
1.17.40 On 22 November 1979 CAD advised Air New Zealand Limited that reports had been received from US Authorities in Antarctica that civil aircraft had been observed at lower than normal altitudes over some glaciers and at 1000 above ground level.