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Old 2nd Jun 2016, 03:14
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Old Akro
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Melbourne
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Nope, but hopefully we've all learnt to be a bit more sceptical about the absolute accuracy of weather forecasts, especially if we're on the bones of our ass for fuel!
I trust this is a general statement rather than an assertion that these 2 aircraft were "on the bones of their ass for fuel". They had reasonable fuel for both holding and alternates, but were basically suckered into going somewhere inappropriate by a bad forecast and a system that did not reasonably pass on pertinent information to the pilots in command.

I would suggest that if they had any awareness of the real weather at Mildura, that they would have made different diversion choices. The ATSB report notes discussion in the cockpit of Woomera as an option, although since the Airforce took control of Woomera from the Department of defense it may no longer meet the operational requirements for emergency response. Which raises another area where Australia is descending into the third world.
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