Firstly-----holy crap Batman they were seriously let down by the system
Well done to both crews.
Now, Mr gazumped:- you my friend are completely missing the point. The Commander has the authority to do whatever he sees fit in the circumstances in order to maintain flight safety. THAT'S WHAT HE'S PAID FOR.
The regs give him this exact power.
At the end of the day ( in QF's situation ) when you can clearly see this un-forecast fog is getting worse by the second you don't muck around, you land the damn Plane Maverick...
otherwise you are landing in a paddock...
So stop this Monday morning quarterbacking bull**** and give both crews the respect they deserve considering what that had to deal with.
Best of all lets ALL learn from this.....
1/ ATC should have passed on the fog in ADL to all Aircraft inbound no matter where they were.( this would have saved the day )
2/ BOM should lift their game.
3/ All operators of RPT Aircraft should carry a suitable alternate at all times.
4/ All Airports in Oz should be capable of at least Cat 2. ( especially PER, and now it seems ADL )