Was it not ALPA that demanded that their senior pilots all have a "Turn" at these Antarctic flights? They must have known of the requirements of other operators
A familiarisation flight was a requirement initially. The airline asked the CAD to remove the requirement in light of the briefing given. Can't lay that at ALPAs door, unless you're saying ALPA runs the airline and CAD.
From Chippendales report.
2. Area Qualification Requirements
Area qualification shall consist of the following:
a. A comprehensive pre-flight briefing which covers at least the following items:
(i) En-route and terminal routing
(ii) Terrain and minimum safe altitudes
(iii) The seasonal meteorological condition and statistics
(iv) Meteorological communication and ATC facilities,
services and procedures
(v) Navigation facilities
(vi) Prohibited and restricted areas
(vii) Search and Rescue facilities and procedures
AND within 30 days
b. A flight in the area under the supervision of a person authorised by the Flight Operations Director.
1.17.19 None of the pilots on this flight had previous Antarctic experience but on 24 October 1979 a signal message from Air New Zealand Limited to CAD asked:
“OPS 880 Flight Operations. Reference our telecon regarding the operation of company flights to Antarctica and return non-stop it is our understanding that because of the briefing programme carried out in our route training unit and the simulator detail covering exercises in grid navigation and the NDB could break at McMurdo that there is no requirement for flight under supervision. The briefing and simulator detail are completed within the week prior to operating the flight8. Would you please confirm that our understanding is correct”.
In a reply dated 24 October 1979 CAD stated:
“OPS 523 98/4/14. Your OPS 880 is confirmed correct and Ops Specs will be amended to reflect such detail”.