One point that no one has yet brought up.
One of the reasons, apart to avoid whiteout, that the MDA (minimum descent altitude) was set at 6,000ft was to avoid any problem with bird strike. There are many skua gulls around McMurdo, as was witnessed by the people who had to clear the wreck. If a flock of skua gulls was encountered at 1,500ft, at 260kts, the damage sustained would be considerable. These are big birds.
The flights that did go down to this altitude, 1,500ft, at the invitation of the ice controller would certainly have been at risk of such a bird strike.
The sightseeing value of such a low level at that speed, when only a small proportion of the pax would have a window view is questionable.
One is left with the thought of for whose benefit were these low level runs carried out??