DDW, I am in total agreement with you. Don't worry about the flak. It seems very likely to me that the crew expected the obstruction to be low enough for them not to bump into it - although I'm not sure why they chose to overfly rocks instead of going round contacts by using HDG - and the stated use of the 10nm range scale suggests to me that they weren't expecting a close-in conflict. I would definitely be using a closer range scale if I knew I was approaching something that I needed to avoid. 10nm suggests to me that the PM wanted to have the Blacksod HLS waypoint and local topography in view, rather than concentrating on the close-in picture. This is one reason why I await the detailed report witn great interest.
SASless etc, please don't be offended if posters choose not to divulge or discuss their respective operators' procedures on this forum; while it might make the usual suspects splutter with online indignation, it really isn't the done thing. Rest assured, though, that those operators will be contemplating their own procedures quite deeply as a direct result of this initial report...which, I expect, was the whole point of publishing it.
Last edited by louisnewmark; 27th Apr 2017 at 22:13.