Doztwannabe,
Come now, does that answer my question??, VHF contact was well before 4 minutres prior to impact.
@prospector - right where it says "VHF contact" for starters. If the controllers saw it there they should have warned them
That return was only for a very short time span, the controller may not have even been looking at the screen, after all that was the only inbound flight and the Captain had requested, and been given a VMC descent. It would not be incumbent on the controller to say anything, let alone question a Captain whether he knew he was VMC or not.
Your whole attitude to this case is like one of those teachers who say things like "I suppose if Wilson told you to jump off a cliff and Simpson said it was safe you'd do it yourself? You broke the rules so it's your fault."
No not really, more like forty years flying and now, still alive, enjoying retirement. And your strong opinions backing Mahon are based on what aviation experience??
There are many reasons why I believe Mahon was wrong, but just an example or two. It has been stated that many pilots used the weather radar installed in the DC10 in mapping mode down at the ice and they all got a good return from Ross Island. This did not fit Mahons theories so he ruled it out.
No where can I find any reference as to whether Flt 901 was even using the weather radar in mapping mode to get a confirmation of their position.
He believed CAA could alter the MSA because these were sight seeing flights, obviously no appreciation of why MSA's are imposed.