could not agree with you more rubik. i've seen sop's change so many times in my company that it makes your head spin. sop's are put in place to ensure a degree of standardization enabling unfamiliar crews to operate in "synergy". as we all know however, every day and location presents it's unique challenges and if you're unable to use your god given common sense then sooner or later you're going to get your wings clipped or in this case your feet stuck in the mud. sop's are a tool and not the holy grail. knowing when and how to apply them is the challenge. when sop's are finally proven to be without fault then we'll have pilotless aircraft. don't see that on the horizon though. whatever your views are in this case you've got to feel for this guy. who knows the particulars of his day and what his pressures were. he made a bad decision finally but what led to that in the first place? you've got to explore the companies culture i think.