That may be true Arm Out the Window, but how long ago was that? How current is he conducting those type of operations, and was there a light source from where he departed?
Can someone please tell me how he was legally allowed to depart from an unlit area at night? Did the intended destination tick all the boxes re; lighting, navaids etc? I'm not drawing any conclusions as to the cause of the accident (i've got my own opinions), but I question what they were doing at that particular location in the darkies and departing (apparently) from an unlit area.
Then the next question is what category of operation was the flight considered (PVT, AWK, CHTR)? I would bet the farm on it being CHTR, even if ABC owned the machine themselves.
What does their ops manual allow and what equipment was required?
I honestly ponder whether the tragic outcome would've been different if they had just overnighted with the tour group.
Havick, I heartily concur with all of the above. Couldn't have put it better myself!
DF.