To true, the wind that day would have made KKE a tad dangerous I think and no RFS and only St Johns up there to deal with any problem, WRE would have been even worse and we know what WRE does not have at each end, therefore AKL was really the only safe option without undue risk of a bigger accident. Yes it is a shame that KAT is soo far away, were they on the way up there or on the way back when it happened ?
Good work to the crew