Please quote any contact with McMurdo radar on the CVR?
No contact with McMurdo radar does NOT mean there was no
co-ordination for descent from local radar control.
At 12.32 p.m. the crew reported they were 43 miles from McMurdo Station and asked for approval to descend further in visual meteorological conditions (VMC). Mac Centre approved this and asked to be kept advised of their altitude. At 12.35 (NZST) the crew reported they were at 13,000 ft and advised they were descending to 10,000 ft (3050 m) VMC. Mac Centre asked whether they required a radar controlled let down through the cloud at this level and this was accepted. But at 12.42 (NZST) the crew advised that they were flying VMC and would now proceed visually to McMurdo Station. Mac Centre requested that the aircraft maintain VMC and keep them advised of their altitude.
There was obvious communication between Mac Centre and local radar control for the approval for the radar controlled let down. There was no traffic advised, hence the clearance to descend maintaining VMC and keep them advised of their altitude. That
would be co-ordinating descent with local radar, would it not
prospector?