My father (Peter Eyre) worked for British Midland and Alidair as Operations Controller, and remembers this incident:
"I was on duty for this crash and remember it very well.
People were phoning up asking if I had any lamb chops (as the Viscount had killed some sheep during its belly landing).
They had two captains onboard. Conversation after the crash was that as they were overhead Guernsey, they discussed diverting there. The crew thought that if they diverted, and if they were wrong about the low fuel state, it would be an acute embarrasment or worse!!
Many times in both British Midland and Alidair I found a dark cloud over Operations and the Crews if they did not attempt to get the aircraft back to its flight-planned destination. It was always a case of commercial pressure versus operational pressure.
The other issue is having two captain flying as crew - it could cause some confusion or command challenges during an emergency. Only one captain is P1, but in their minds both are P1. This was the case in another accident at Kirkwall in 1979 with another Viscount (G-BFYZ of Guernsey Airlines), when one captain decided it was okay to land and the other called for an overshoot."
Incidentally, this aircraft was the oldest flying Viscount in the world at the time. It was the 10th Viscount produced, the second Viscount delivered to Air France, and was 27 years old at the time of the crash.
Regards,
David Eyre