Could not airline pilots rightly be entitled to some form of ombudsman to assist in cases like this?. .. .This sort of ghastly nightmare probably happens an awful lot more than we ever hear of. If a situation becomes unresolved just where do pilots turn to for help? . .. .The CAA can suspend/revoke a licence in extremis. They can also suspend you on medical grounds for stress. But what happens when the airline is CAUSING that stress through bad working practices? How do you prove that?. .. .A pilot could blow the whole story to the press and blow his/her career with it. BALPA do some very good work behind the scenes; there is always the option applying legal pressure to a situation.. .. .If an external arbitrator could come into play it might just force airlines to THINK before they treat a LICENCED professional badly.. .. .At any rate, in an increasingly cost conscious industry, there is going to be a lot more of this sort of of malpractice.. .. .Post accident the fare paying public would be aghast to learn that the crew had been at such odds with each other. Imagine the wording of the subsequent AAIB report if they learnt that the airline had applied such pressure for them to fly together . . .