When you are operating a flight you take off with an amount of fuel called your endurance. It may be 1 hours worth or 15 hours worth. You have a mission which is set to be accomplished. It may be to from Mascot to Los Angeles or Mascot to Richmond. As PIC you need to achieve what is possible with the fuel you’ve got. If you’ve only got 1 hours worth and you’re trying to do Mascot Los Angeles you turn around before you get to TOC and go back to Mascot. If you’ve got 15 hours worth and you’re going Mascot to Richmond there are many things you can do while airborne before you have to land at Mascot or Richmond or a lot of other places that take your fancy.
The point being if you take off from Apia and you are trying to get to NFI, you do what you can do with the fuel you’ve got, not what you should have had or not what you could have had. Most answers to this mission don’t include ditching in the ocean.
I contend that as PIC your bread and butter task is to take every action that is possible to ensure that this is not the end result.
The incompetence of your employer and the inadequacy of CASA in whatever capacity do not detract from this responsibility in my opinion.