"arawa" TY for yr input
I'd be very surprised if the WW couldn't have done this task with full gas & the pax/gear they had to carry.
Hey 'jaba' these are very good Q's & no doubt CASA have asked as much a few times. I'd say that "press-on-itis" was a part of this as it has been for a lot of us right from day one of flying in CMD even in a C172 VFR. It's 'she'll be right mate' we'll get in, that thought is very real in a commercial world!
I believe that the French CASA might have had some past issues with PelAir (call it a hunch) & this particular flight didn't consider it as an ALT again possibly to commercial pressure/s. Who knows we on the outside can only guess to some degree & after all this is just a rumor site but even if there where some restrictions to PelAir operating into French New Cal one could always declare a mercy flight & you can pretty much do what ya bloody like to save life & limb. Just the thought of arriving at Norfolk with no options other than to land would send shivers up my spine. Hindsight is a wonderful thing & am sure the Capt would have diverted to New Cal when it was starting to look ugly but the thought of having to explain the mess they would have ended up in had they diverted to the PelAir, the French authorities and not to mention the cost blow out would have been an awful lot of pressure besides the end result of having to ditch would have been a long way from the Capt's mind at the time.
At the end of the day we weren't there, we all sit here in the comfort of our homes/offices & 'pretend' we are at the controls on such an ill fated flight, lets hope that we can ALL learn from this guys mistakes for a safer future.
More to come am sure, good & bad
Wmk2
Thanks