Originally Posted by Lost in Saigon
I don't think they were tracking to the VOR.
I flew in the Canadian "Bush" for many years. Old habits stay with you. I have trouble believing they would not have had the 2 NDB's tuned in to their ADF's to confirm their position. I still do this 30 years later if there are NDB's associated with the runway.
Like many others have said, I believe they were doing an ILS 35 circling for 17.
I used to fly in the Alaskan Bush and have been following this story.
I agree with you and disagree with you.
I agree old habits stick with you and I do the same EXACT thing with NDBs, even in a glass airplane with a magenta line. It's just a habit.
But I have to admit, it's *feasible* they tuned the VOR, tracked the final app course for the ILS, couldn't get a GS so reverted to LOC mins and tracked that down to the MAP and tagged the hill on the way.
My question is, if they reported on the ILS for 35 and circled, why wouldn't they circle to the WEST out over the water? That would be my choice having never been there and just looking at the chart. Why would you circle towards the higher terrain?
Or maybe they did circle to the west and overshot final and ended up east of the field?
We still don't seem to have any agreement on the direction of flight...
Tragic, but I'm sure we'll all learn a good lesson.