How about you, LL? Have you ever made a mistake that could have resulted in a bad outcome, but luckily didn’t? (I've made plenty.)
Ever read Fate is the Hunter LB? Its the nature of flying and yes I have made plenty but more importantly I have learnt from them. One of the most important lessons I learnt from a wise old Captain was that when it all goes pear shaped the F/O looks left and sees the Captain. The Captain looks left and sees their reflection in the window.
Instead we got an attempted quick and dirty cover up and pilot scapegoating, and the consequent trashing of the ATSB's already-dwindling reputation. My "learning" from this episode is never to volunteer anything to ATSB. What a great outcome for aviation safety.
Thats the problem with those like yourself who are so wrapped up in your pathological hatred of all things CASA and ATSB that you are not prepared to look at the operational lessons.
The lesson I took from the report was that he was not about to bust minima attempting an approach, he briefed the FO on that point. Perhaps he saw a ditching as a preferable means to shooting an approach to below minima,
Then why do 4 approaches if you know you are not going to get in and why not prepare properly for the ditching? What would I have done? Hold overhead at a thrust setting that would give me maximum time to prepare for an attempt at an approach that I knew would have to take me below the minima. Use the capapbilities of the aircraft to its maximum extent. It had a RadAlt and it had EGPWS it also had an auto pilot. Give the F/O time to brief the crew and passengers. Declare a MAYDAY!!!! Tell the SAR my intentions. When its time to get out of the aircraft make sure my crew and passengers get out first.
The Mildura incident has been mentioned elsewhere as having similarities. Would the crews have been held at fault, responsible (chose your term) had the weather turned out to be zero/zero and a 737 was left spread across the grapevines/saltbush?
Would DJ still be a Captain with Pelair if he had landed successfully onto the runway?
Would Sully be the hero he is if he had tried to get back to a runway?
Would Ernst Gann be a legend if he had flown up the wrong fjord in Greenland?
Would RDC be a hero if he had gone off the runway in Singapore into the water?
Would Al Haynes be a legend if he had given up flying his DC10?
Where do you want to go with the hypotheticals?