IRVING FOREST had been listing for days and so the Grimrod had plenty of time to get there and sit there. Also the people swept over the side were in immersion survival suits - that bought them prescious time. MPA's loitering over sinking ships is a completely different game than aircraft in distress. For an airliner, unless you're going to shadow every single one across on the NATS then you will be dropping ASRA to corpses.
Please do not think I am criticising your fantastic work during the IRVING FOREST disaster - I am not. It's just that I do not believe that an MPA is much use for airliner's coming down (which this thread is all about).
LJ