Originally Posted by
megan
Crab, or anyone else with the knowledge, presumably Blacksod does not have a formal approach, so how would one make an approach in dirty weather, what limits apply?
Thanks from the unknowing.
I would be surprised if the ICG has not had "company" GPS approaches designed for each helipad it would use. These aircraft have to operate in very poor weather, and an instrument approach would seem to be mandatory at those heliport/lighthouse combos.
I would think it would take a series of events before an "approach" thought to be at Blacksod became the Blacksod approach at Blackrock. If that were the case, Blackrock light is likely above Blacksod minimums.
Nobody has denied the Blacksod destination story, but as a poster says above, that may be protocol for any number of good reasons. If something was not right in the boxes, it was not right on liftoff from Dublin. The aircraft flew to the co-ordinates of Blackrock but there are a number of scenarios as to how that might have happened. If it was programmed as a GoTo Direct, and canned approaches aren't used, then you have a single wrong waypoint and approach plates for Blacksod on the clip.
Surely there is a control center somewhere that is always in comms with these machines, and surely someone must have thought What the...watching this aircraft if it wasn't going where it was supposed to?