Thanks for being brave enough to answer the question Megan.
The fact that you think that no matter which Air NZ crew were assigned to that duty the outcome would " quite possibly" have been the same suggests to me that you and I are so far apart in our thinking and experience that we will never see eye to eye and that there is probably no gain from continuing to debate the subject.
I believe that very few Air NZ Captains of the time would have felt comfortable descending to 1500ft, clean, at 260kts, with no VHF reception, no UHF reception, and the weather that was reported at the time. You on the other hand believe that "quite possibly" all of the Air NZ Captains would have chosen to do this. To me, your position is preposterous. I'm glad you answered the question though as now it is clear to me just how differently we view the situation.
I'll now browse the report on the accident you invited me to comment on, and answer it as best I can.
Cheers.