Originally Posted by
AfricanSkies
The fact that the Dash 8 captain asked the other crew if they were cleared to enter the runway means there was doubt.
When there is doubt about such a fundamental thing, the correct course of action is to confirm with the ATC, not with the crew.
Suspect this is the very heart of the matter. A long time ago journalist the late Murray Sayle wrote that for their cockpit crews Japanese airlines had needed to deal with the ingrained cultural instinct in that county to work by consensus. It's common sense that any element of doubt by the GC captain should have automatically been referred to the ATC, not to his team.