Spot On
Mates Rates has got it in one. It is unbelievable that SAW would use Santo as an alternate. As most people who operate in the area know, Santo is unmanned at night. There is no PAL system to activate the lights.
This means the nearest alternate is Vila. Honiara approaches generally get you down to around 450' Agl in a Cat C aircraft. The 170 maybe a Cat B, This results in even lower weather minima.
To be frank, if you cant get in from 450', on a straight in approach, then you are going to have no chance getting into Vila, even if the weather is slightly marginal.
The only answer is Noumea.
From reports,(insider), the aircraft arrived at the terminal with 3 tonnes left in the tanks. This will get you nowhere near Noumea. In fact it will only get you barely to Santo.
The reason why the aircraft didnt divert, is simple, they couldn't. It would have been worse if they had diverted to find Santo unmanned. If they had fuel they would then proceed to Vila, also to find it unmanned until 30 minutes prior to the arrival of the Air Van boeing, which is always around midnight.
This sounds remarkably like a near death experience.
(ps: Mundah as an altenate...wow, last time I was there there was still live ordinance lying around the fringes of the tarmac, take a walk and have a look)
(pps: Gouging on one tyre?? The damage was caused by the tyreS hitting the concrete blocks the lights are set in. Minimal damage doesnt take days to repair. The aircraft was required to return to Aust with no pax. Does this suggest to you that it was just a couple of blown tyres,????? get real)