Originally Posted by
gulliBell
How effective would NVG be in this environment i..e over water, under cloud? If they didn't see the lighthouse from 1.3nm away tends to suggest they weren't looking outside, would they have been looking outside if they had NVG?
We don't really know what the cloud base was at, or what level of cloud coverage there was, or how thick the bottom layer was. It was a full moon that night. The presumed weather is based on a aftercast shown in the weather section of the prelim report. Ceiling 300-400 feet. It is possible, or certain, that the light was in deep enough cloud that the crew couldn't see it.
It is known that an hour and a half after the accident R118 was on scene, in search mode, and found wreckage and a survivor floating in the water. Presumably in the same conditions that the accident occured in. Close in to Blackrock. Whatever systems they used to accomplish this did work for them. It's been overlooked in all of this, but that was an outstanding bit of SAR work.