Any help available
Hi. First let me state I am not a pilot. I am just an interested observer with a life long fascination with flying.
Much has been said about the shortcomings of this crews briefing. And we know that the two people in the front seats were unfamiliar with this part of the coast and particularly the approach to Blacksod. So my question is: what could/should they have done to acquire more information about the let down and potential dangers on the run-in before they arrived? We know they made repeated unsuccessful attempts to contact 116 who would have been the obvious ones to provide local knowledge and specific advice on the approach. No ATC was available to them at that time in the morning. Would there have been any personnel at Blacksod? Or what about the coastguard or their controlling ops? Both of which would have had access to local charts? Flying 'under the duvet' in the dark in an unfamiliar and inhospitable coastline I think I would want to be as prepared as I could be. Someone mentioned mindset, I think in those conditions an 'open mind' i.e. hyper alert was what was needed.
Or could there have been misplaced pride or , dare I say, stubbornness that this was not a particularly hazardous mission by their standards and they shouldn't need any outside assistance. I only say this because my wife often accuses me of that! After all their very job entailed them doing the impossible and so often they were the only help around and on their own.
Apologies if these questions seem naive. Don't flame me!