the pressures that can be put on a student or PPL by more experienced pilots are what this highlights most to me.
I agree. What we have here is a young pilot who was ASKED to do a flight by the CFI. A flight which needed doing. He tries to refuse, saying he's not current. The CFI tells him he'll have someone more experienced with him. He could also have implied that the accompanying passenger would be unofficially in command, even though the pilot would be officially, since he needed the hours.
At this point, I wonder how many young, inexperienced pilots would do exactly as this one did...go along with it? More than would admit to that on here now, I would say. After all, hindsight is always an exact science.
Once they were in Exeter, the accompanying passenger seems to have made all the decisions. But it's very, very difficult to fight that kind of thing. And as someone pointed out (sorry, can't remember who now), they were on a treadmill by then....refuelling would make them late back, they had to leave, picking up fuel on the way would make them late. It's hard under those conditions to say to someone who appears to have lots more experience than you: "No, I'm not going; this is wrong and illegal and I want to stay here overnight and to hell with who it upsets". Because that was really the only other option the pilot had by then!
Kiwi chick - of course you'd never end up in this situation; you're too experienced. But would any of your students? Do you make sure they are strong-minded enough to stand up against anyone, however experienced, however strong a personality, however much older than them, and never go along with a decision they think might possibly be wrong, when the more experienced pilot says it's OK? Do you make that a condition of them getting a PPL?
I can think of a couple more accidents over the years where a more experienced pilot influenced the person who had the accident in a similar way. I really don't know what we can do about this sort of thing.
This is a human factors issue. And there but for the grace of God go (or could have gone in the past) a great many of us.
