And you get the same answers with irrefutable evidence, over and over and over again.
Aaaahhh, no you don't. You have people making claims that they are unable to prove. The claim that the FO programmed the simulator from an old flight plan being one. Show me the proof.
The VMC issue has two parts: (1) Was he actually VMC? (2) Did he believe he was VMC?
As to (1), the answer is obviously 'no', given what happened.
Can you point to any reference that he was not in VMC? No you can't, it's just an unsubstantiated claim you make. Chippindale wrote, "From the photographs the Superintendent deduced the following information on the weather. Over Northern Victoria Land the weather was clear with an almost complete absence of cloud at any altitude. The aircraft flew over continuous cloud layers from about Franklin Island to just north of Beaufort Island where the aircraft was able to descend through an obvious break in the cloud cover. Several photographs show a clearly defined cloud base beyond and above the Lewis Bay coastline of something less than 2000 feet." If the aircraft had not been in VMC don't you think he would have made comment?
Captain Collins knew nothing of sector whiteout. Not true
How in the world can you claim you know what the Captain knew about whiteout. Flying around Wigram is not going to give you an education. I spent some time flying in the mountains/snow not unlike NZ, and flying in Antarctica was eye opening to say the least.
Chippindale again,
RCU Briefing failure: A comprehensive discussion of the visual phenomenon peculiar to the Antarctic, i.e. the whiteout conditions, which might be anticipated with overcast sky and snow covered terrain below.
Whiteout phenomenon. The following detailed information was included in authenticated information supplied to the investigating team by the USN Antarctic Support force. Whiteout is an atmospheric effect which results in loss of depth perception and is especially common in Polar regions when there is snow cover. Only two conditions are necessary to produce a whiteout, a diffuse shadowless illumination and a mono-coloured white surface. Whiteout, it must be emphasised, is not necessarily associated with precipitation or fog or haze. The condition may occur in a crystal clear atmosphere or under a cloud ceiling with ample comfortable light and in a visual field filled with trees, huts, oil drums and other small objects.
1.17.47 In Polar regions these conditions occur frequently. Large unbroken expanses of snow are illuminated by a sky overcast with dense, low stratus clouds that blot out all trace of surface texture or shadow and merge hollows and snow covered objects into a flattened white background. In addition, cloud and sky may have the same apparent colour, so horizon discrimination is lost and the ground plane disappears. Whiteouts also occur in water or ice fog, blowing snow or precipitation conditions.
1.17.48 Those who have not been exposed to whiteout are often sceptical about the inability of those who have experienced it, to estimate distance under these conditions, (and to be aware of terrain changes and the separation of sky and earth).
1.17.49 The probable reason for the diffuse lighting which is responsible for a whiteout is a complex process where a large percentage of the light which penetrates the cloud cover is reflected back by the snow, and similarly is reflected by the white cloud undersurface, and so on. The transmission and reflection paths which this system develops are most complex as they pass from one water droplet or ice crystal to another through the cloud and are then reflected by the myriads of ice mirrors tilted in all directions on the snow surface. The consequence is that the light is diffused and results in a white shadowless lighting effect.
1.17.50 For the person operating on the ground, whiteout may only be a nuisance in that he may stumble and fall on terrain which appears to be flat but which actually has undulations. In crossing ice, crevasses may be missed.
1.17.51 For the pilot of the fixed wing aircraft there are several hazardous losses of perception. First there is the effect of loss of horizon, where it becomes impossible or very difficult to separate sky from earth since both are the same colour and to establish a ground plane. The result on an attempted landing may be misjudgement of the approach or a stall well above the surface, or else the pilot may fly the aircraft “into the ground”.
1.17.52 A second major problem for pilots who must operate in winter with snow or ice landings where to strip exists is that they will have considerable difficulty assessing the condition of the terrain and determining whether it is flat or hummocky. They may, in landing encounter hummocks which cannot be avoided since they are literally not visible, and damage the aircraft and/or suffer injuries.
1.17.53 A third hazard reported by many pilots is disorientation, especially occurring on take off, where features such as trees which are providing a ground plane referenced are lost as the aircraft turns away from them and the pilot suddenly encounters a complete loss of references and height and altitude perception leading to disorientation.
1.17.54 Some flyers have also reported a phenomenon known as the “floating air strip”, where a dark or black runway appears to be floating well above the apparent ground level once again resulting in disorientation.
1.17.55 One other hazard is the effect caused by dark coloured rocks or ridges visible above the snow, which may give the impression that good contrast conditions exist, resulting in a landing attempt on terrain which is not suitable for the purpose, but which due to the whiteout effect appears to be safe since the pilot has not realised that the dark colour of the rocks is giving the illusion of contrast.
1.17.56 The helicopter pilot is faced often with difficulty in estimating his distance above ground and establishing his attitude. A combination of loose snow with the characteristic snow cloud plus whiteout can make helicopter operations difficult.
1.17.57 In addition, a commonly reported problem is a loss of distance judgement or perception and it becomes difficult to estimate whether a perceived hill or hummock is a distant hill or a small protrusion a few feet away.
1.17.58 One of the most critical effects of a whiteout is a loss of height perception and this appears to be a problem for pilots during aircraft turns especially if there are marginally visible references.
Whiteout conditions can exist within the normal VMC minima and even in the conditions defined by ANZ as the minima for VMC descents to 6,000 feet.
Folks seem to have difficulty grasping what whiteout is about. It is the reverse of blackout. In the first there is a surfeit of light, in the other a total absence.
The following is a Turbo Commander at night in VMC operating below the MSA.
Absolutely no problem with visibility. Could it be he went into the mountain because he couldn't see it? Three adults, three children aged 5 to 9.