Originally Posted by
Kit d'Rection KG
Hmmm, not quite. This is an area where the commander (not the captain) has very little discretion; the requirements are laid out and he must simply know and (occasionally) interpret them. His only discretion would be to refuse to operate when he could have done, and for that, he would be answerable to flight ops management.
Well, it was said with tongue slightly in cheek but ultimately the commander, in discharging his many responsibilities (set out largely in the Air Navigation Order for UK purposes), exercises discretion - maybe that is where interpretation comes in. And yes, he or she will no doubt have to justify any decision not to do something that the 'book' permitted, but nonetheless, the commander has the authority to exercise discretion....just as I, as a controller, have had to explain in the past why I chose to follow a particular course of action that was not by the book. In my experience, if there is a valid reason for the decision there is no problem.
PS - I know the difference between Captain and Commander....it just didn't seem sensible to start using specific and not necessarily well understood terms when answering a question that was posed in a non-technial way. Well, that's my excuse anyway......