compressor stall. Thank you. I value your contribution and certainly do not disagree in principle.
It seems to me the impasse on this thread is the words "pilot error". I see the pilot as the goalkeeper. Whatever the others in the team are doing, he is on his own. However well or badly the others play, he is the last man standing, the final defence. The outcome depends on him; success or failure. Of course the others can make his life easy or difficult. Maybe impossible.
I do not believe Air NZ made Collins' life impossible. He was not tasked to land at McMurdo Field. That would have been an entirely different matter. I would have excused him in that scenario, given his training.
Captain Collins made choices and he was wrong. Pilot error. In the context of a dysfunctional operation? Absolutely. Disgraceful. Shocking. Inexcusable.
I don't care to apportion blame. I don't need to divide the pie. It's all unsavoury, every piece.