A slightly late response to one of Llanfair's comments of yesterday. Yes, I do recall the 1-11 incident very well - I was flying the things at the time. It doesn't make your surmise correct though, since the ANO cunningly provides for pilot incapacitation in the definition of pilot in command in Article 155. I agree that if, for the sake of argument, the captain dies in flight then the other pilot becomes the commander de facto. This doesn't alter the fact that if two pilots take up an aircraft and return safely, the one who signed for it is the commander.