Helios Airways 737 crash
Rjmore,
Not sure if the Greek (actually it was Helios) 737 crash you refer to is a great example of why we should spend less time understanding how the aircraft we fly are built. From the report I read, as the Helios aircraft climbed, with the altitude warning horn sounding continuously, the captain radioed in to company to say there seemed to be a spurious take off configuration warning and he wasn't sure what to do. [In the 737 the two warnings are the same sound but take off config is inhibited in flight.]
Had the captain possessed a bit more tech knowledge and understood the two different warnings and when they might sound (e.g. altitude warning horn while climbing out from 10,000 to 20,000 ft) he might have decided to put on a mask and perhaps nobody would have died.
You are quite correct that you need enough systems knowledge to be able to troubleshoot problems but the Helios guy apparently didn't even know that much. I guess each airline will have a different view on where the balance lies. Personally I think knowing a bit too much is better than not knowing enough (as long as SOPs are there to back it up), especially when lives are at stake.
As for side slipping on to finals, I've never tried it myself but I suspect if I did it might be followed by a fairly swift call of "go around" from my PNF. Was it a comfortable ride?
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