While I think Mr Rutan is a tad premature, I do remember the procedure he mentions. Definitely not in the Operating Manual, but in remote areas in rare events, it sufficed to get the 210 back to a LAME to fix it.
The inbound JET RPT to Cairns wouldn't have been worried about the airport closure, all the better operators would have had the fuel on board for such an event, and been able to go back to TSV.