Backing up a step, WTF were both crews thinking to begin with. The time of year, low wind , dew point almost at the temp. Hmmm what are the chances?
Neither crew used enough foresight to load about 2T extra fuel. A prudent Captain would have.
The next point is, if your technical alternate has some unforecast fog you still have choices, and it would not be straying far from a known reliable ILS. So in any case, regardless what fuel policy is, or rules, they should have had fuel to AD and enough to go to ML to a CatIII or if it was likely to clear they could have held at Adelaide.
And then and only then if it all turned to pooh...land on a perfectly good ILS, even if it meant bending some rules. Which rule bending is preferred! Mildura or Adelaide?
So in summary, they should not have launched with fuel more suited to cavok nice time of year fuel, they should have used their experience ( I believe they were not newbies) and been better prepared, they then might not have found themselves in a **** situation where they had to perform at a higher level, refer post above.
That said, the Captains had been set up for this, too much pressure to carry min fuel. There are those on either side of this debate, I have friends (C&T Capt's) who argue this from either side, you see it on prune, but right now the min fuel guys are probably saying what a great job, and the others saying bad planning to begin with. Bottom line, the bean counters and managers need to start running their business less close to the edge. Planning needs to provide for alternates that will work. No pressure to accept flight plan only fuel, even if it is not documented pressure.
Otherwise one day there will be a bent aeroplane.
The guy who is paying to Adelaide with conditions like this, who insists to see the flight plan fuel and the actual uplift by the crew........that will be me, or I get off. I wonder how many others would follow?
