Originally Posted by
morno
I know I have the benefit of hindsight, but why did he not confirm exactly where he was? I know I don’t go descending below MSA’s until I know exactly where I am. Just because you think you know where you are, it doesn’t mean you are. When you KNOW where you are, then descend
Just one of several lapses of judgment which surrounded that particular descent, which would seem to have been carried out on a whim. Firstly, there was no crew briefing and no discussion as to what the plan was, no discussion as to where the abort point would be etc. Whatever was going on in Collins's head - if it was anything more than "let's make it up as we go along" - he didn't share it.
THEN he didn't take the moment to plot his position off the INS readout - a quick, basic, 30 second job which would've saved everyone's lives.
And then a sequence of poor decisions followed - most of which can be summarised as a complete failure of situational awareness.