To my thinking, seems to have been a pretty casual approach to fuel and flight planning for this flight operating as it did at night to a remote, rarely visited stop for an ad-hoc charter. Operated day and night RPT, and day and sometimes night ad-hoc charter to a few destinations in the southern Pacific in all weathers (sometimes cyclones), but the companies involved had thorough policies of requireing depress. and single engine CP's and PNR's calculated before flight at the planning stage, and updated as we went along with the latest weather received in flight. Pre-GPS days we had Omega in some aircraft, listened to the Volmet, kept in touch with the Company Operations 24 hours on H.F., sometimes carried 2 hours Island Reserve, talked to the agent from 100 miles out or earlier if in range on VHF for the latest weather before descent. Off-track alternates had to provide the latest weather for ETOPS or we were required to turn back. (sometimes Wallis was a little tardy). Tonga sometimes got fog at the times we went there. What to do in an 'Unlikely Event" was also reinforced during annual training in the pool with jacket and raft inflation practice.
Training for it made sure it didn't happen. Smaller companies standards were not up to that, but were appropriate for where and when they went, if commonsense and self preservation were applied.
Complacency and "she'll be right" didn't get a lookin then..