It does highlight how much has an aircraft commander's decision making responsibility been undermined, whilst at the same time he is faced with unnecessary grief from a department that is established to support the operation. Anyone out there who still remembers Tenerife?
The possibility that van Zanten was in a hurry to commence the delayed flight due to Dutch regulations on exceeding crew duty hours.
Easy for me to say sat in my comfortable armchair, but I would have walked after being treated like that.