Brian Abraham,
"This was referred to in a Company memorandum to Antarctic crews, OAA:14/13/28 dated 8 November 1979. Headed McMurdo NDB NOT AVAILABLE, it was succinct and unambiguous.
Delete all reference in briefing dated 23/10/79. Note the the ONLY let-down procedure available is VMC below FL160 to 6000ft as follows.
1. Vis 20 Km plus.
2. No snow showers in area.
3. Avoid Mt Erebus area by operating in an arc from 120 degrees Grid through 360 degrees grid to 270 degrees grid from McMurdo Field, within 20nm of TACAN CH29.
4. Descent to be co-ordinated with local radar control as they may have other traffic in the area.
Despite some claims to the contrary, my information is that a copy of this memorandum was recovered from the cockpit wreckage.
What many people seem to ignore are these requirements, none were complied with, no radar contact, no lock on to TACAN, nowhere near the approved descent area, the weather as given to the crew was below their limits for the approved descent, so they designed their own descent. And the result being just exactly what these requirements were to designed to make sure never happened.
Last edited by prospector; 28th Jan 2008 at 18:02.