Capt. K, yes I do realise it was at night.
I should have added that a 'dropping low then popping up' attempt was maybe because the Captain was resigned to the fact that he couldn't get in, couldn't go anywhere else, and this was his only other option prior to ditching.
Like I said in my earlier post, a bit speculative but the no mayday, few lifejackets and no raft thing gets the cogs working.
tio540, what are WW1142's, are they the Pel Westwinds???
Wonder if the people pulled from the water would be getting back onto one of those things? Plenty out there say "I'm not flying with them again" in relation to other operators for much more trivial reasons!