Why I ask that question
Captain Wilson confirmed that during his briefings given in 1978 and 1979 crews were told that they could descend to any height authorised by the USN Air Traffic Controller.
Delete all reference to briefing dated 23/10/79. Note that the only let down procedure available is VMC below FL160(16,000ft) to 6,000ft as follows
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Surely the written orders after the verbal briefing has precedence??
As has been posted many times, the crew knew of this requirement, a copy was found in the cockpit wreckage.
Nobody has yet explained why it was that trained, experienced Met observers, and crews of other aircraft operating in the same area, reported that Ross Island was completely obscured by cloud, and that the weather for sightseeing was completely unsuitable, well below the minimums required for the approved descent, so why was it even attempted? commercial pressure has been forwarded, but since when has commercial pressure overruled good sense?
And after all this well known, indisputable fact, can anyone say this crew made no errors?
I know many people who have never sat in the sharp end of an aeroplane digest Mahon report as gospel, but it has many holes in his reasoning, one that stands out is the use of the WX radar in mapping mode. Other pilots doing this flight have stated that Ross Island showed up very well. Mahon comes up with some theory of dry ice giving no returns. But as is shown in the photo's of the land that the crew failed to identify correctly, the ice was surrounded on the seaward side by many large patches of bare rock. . These would certainly have shown up if the radar had of been used in mapping mode.
that the approach radar would be unable to pick them up above 6000 feet. On previous flights the approach had been largely clear of cloud and, as a sure aid, the feed in had been attained by using McMurdo’s NDB (Non-Directional Beacon) to bring them into the orbit of the precision approach radar, at 6000 feet.
The Approach radar at 6,000ft. The radar could be switched to surveillance mode and that would have picked them up within a few minutes if they had of maintained MSA for a few more miles, even on the track over Mt Erebus.
6,000ft minimum descent was a strict CAA rule when approving these flights. I very much doubt anyone could say an invitation to descend to 1,500ft by an Air Traffic Controller could in anyway overrule this CAA requirement.
Capt Mayne Hawkins who stated "I was in no doubt at the briefing that the lower limit was 6,000ft. The weather on my flight was perfect, with clear skies and 100 miles of visibility. Ice tower asked me for a low run, but I kept to 6,000ft.
If there'd been the slightest doubt in my mind I would have been down there with the best of them. I was a ground attack pilot for five years flying Vampires, Venoms and Meteors in Cyprus, the Middle East and Singapore, so I knew what I was doing.