Did crash pilot feel under commercial pressure to land?

Investigators from the Irish Air Accident Unit will today be trying to understand why the pilot of the Manx2 Fairchild Metroliner tried to land after aborting two earlier attempts and circling for 20 minutes in a holding pattern hoping for conditions to improve.

There are no suggestions that the foggy conditions improved significantly. Did the pilot feel under commercial pressure to land at his destination rather than incur additional expenses for his employer? A diversion is always costly.

Apart from the cost of relocating the passengers by road or air to their original destination, the passengers due to join the flight can claim compensation if their flight is delayed too long. Some airlines require pilots to provide an explanation if they are as little as three minutes late, a situation which often places them under pressure to keep to a schedule.