For those that hold steadfast to the not below 6,000 argument, Captain Wilson, the briefing officer, told the crews they were permitted to descend to whatever level McMurdo gave them a clearance.
Had Captain Collins been on the track he thought, on confronting the bad weather he possibly would have climbed out straight ahead, knowing from his previous plotting that he would be in the clear re terrain.
Which brings up another point. Have you ever seen an IMC approach procedure without a missed approach depicted? ANZ had one before the NDB was withdrawn. The assumption seems to be that becoming visual was guaranteed, which I guess it might be since you wouldn't be commencing the approach unless McMurdo gave an adequate weather report. But no forethought had been given to an aircraft breaking out below an 8/8ths overcast and what they might have been confronted with.
And that is whiteout. As Chippendale said,
One other hazard is the effect caused by dark coloured rocks or ridges visible above the snow, which may give the impression that good contrast conditions exist, resulting in a landing attempt on terrain which is not suitable for the purpose, but which due to the whiteout effect appears to be safe since the pilot has not realised that the dark colour of the rocks is giving the illusion of contrast.
In addition, a commonly reported problem is a loss of distance judgement or perception and it becomes difficult to estimate whether a perceived hill or hummock is a distant hill or a small protrusion a few feet away.
So our crew break out, see the dark buildings of the McMurdo base but SFA of anything else. How long do they bumble about before taking decisive action and get the hell out of there? And in which direction? No guidance on the approach plate. Once again a demonstration of an ill considered operation.
Some seem to have difficulty in coming to grips with what whiteout is capable of. My only experience in Antarctica was 8/8ths at 20,000 and visibility unlimited, but you could see nothing - inside a ping pong ball as someone said earlier.
To place blame, my opinion is it falls on the nav department. They failed in so many areas it is beyond belief. They had no idea where the waypoints lay, and failed in their duty to advise the crew of the change. What's the point of a crew briefing if its not of the route to be flown.
For those who castigate the man for not plotting his position, it wasn't SOP as far as I can tell, so why is it a black mark? Guys and Gals flying RNP into Queenstown I bet don't plot the waypoints. One guy says it better than I.
Perhaps, though, the paradigms for determining who is in command, who is in direct control and who is responsible, are changing. The levels of complexity of modern transportation systems are such that the notion of the sole commander and his executive crew, all powerful and totally responsible for the safety of the ship, a notion developed over many millennia of maritime (and more lately of aerial) navigation, is not as relevant as it used to be. We now live in an era of transportation systems in which many minds are involved in the operation of any particular vehicle, and the safe delivery of that vehicle to any particular destination can be seen as the product of systematic co-operation by a team of decision makers. There has to be trust at all levels for such systems to function properly. The pilots of modern aircraft have to place their trust in the organisation behind hem for the system to work.
Who checks the oil levels? Who does the water drains? The maintenance? Who designs the ILS approach? The crew have to accept that the people within all departments are professionals doing their tasks in a professional manner. Not to say they don't make mistakes like all of us, but they all play a role in the safe operation of our air transportation system. To expect the front seats to be the goal keepers for everybody elses mistakes is to expect far too much.
A four engine airliner crashed, following the loss of all engines, with the loss of all on board because it was suspected an engineer erred in doing the fuel drains. A jet put its wheels through the trees because of an error in the airport/approach plate.