Megan #999:
I thought the usual practice when quoting someone was identify the person quoted and, preferably, where the passage is to be found. All this post consists of is a wall of words - but, to be fair, there are no more crocodile tears for the family of the negligent captain and the useless first officer.
Your second quote appears to be from Mahon’s report. I assume,therefore , that you accept what I have said about the audio-tape, because Mahon did, and you yourself have highlighted the relevant part. If you also agree with Mahon’s assertion that the pilots would receive contradictory information about the position of an important waypoint and not question the briefing officers,then you’ve probably an 18-year old having some fun online.
The first quote looks like something from Chippindale. It appears that you regard this gentleman as an incompetent fool, who occasionally gets things right when it suits. Firstly, there were other flight plans at the briefing. Chippendale might not have known this at the time, but it emerged that there was another flight plan dated 1977 showing McMurdo Station at the waypoint. This flight plan was used by F/O Cassin to program the simulator and he may well have retained it, as a version was found in the wreckage.
None of the pilots asked any question about the position ofthe waypoint, so consider the counter-factual: All the pilots believed that the waypoint was 27 miles west of McMurdo Station. Think of all the questions that would arise. Why did the audio say otherwise? After F/O Cassin programmed the simulator and it was repositioned, it ended up over McMurdo Station – How could that happen? How are we supposed to overhead McMurdo Station for the cloud-break procedure if it’s not on the nav track?
The other bit from Chippindale that you’ve highlighted I’vealready dealt with – see #930.
Then think about Captain Simpson, and his leaving the briefing under the assumption that the waypoint was 27 miles west of McMurdo Station - which, for his flight, it was. What, therefore, was there anything for him to be surprised about? Why would he have performed two manual updates to the AINS? The plain fact is that Captain Simpson believed the waypoint was in the general vicinity of McMurdo Station and he was surprised when he discovered it wasn't. After his flight he rang Captain Johnson and suggested that future crews be told where the waypoint was so as to avoid an unnecessary manual update.