Whether they were VMC legally, or not, still begs the question who in their right mind would be scud running, 1,500ft right on the cloud base, and not to go below 260kts, in an area you have never been to before, yet must know about the vagaries of the Antarctic weather, and your main navigation system being AINS that was not cleared for ops below MSA and yet, according to Mahon, it was the fault of the Company for programming the aircraft to fly into Mt Erebus?