Throw away the book
999 times out of 1000 doing things by the book is the best way, but very occasionally going by the book will kill you, says Pace. The rejection at Leeds you cite Pace poses another question for me. You state that the aircraft suffered a massive fire which was burning through the wing. Do you honestly believe that the pilot knew the magnitude of the problem at the instant he decided to put the aircraft back on the ground? I seriously doubt that he did. Your statement that 999 times out of 1000 going by the book is the best way says it all for me. Of course we are all capable of making decisions which are not covered by the book however, smarter people than me, and I suspect you too, have determined that if the aircraft has reached the predetermined V1, and you suffer an emergency, your best chance of survival is to take it into the air and deal with it. The decision to abort, even just a Knot or two below V1, can be more likely to end in grief than to keep going. It would seem to me that the Leeds incident outcome was more "good luck" than the result of good judgement based on knowledge of the magnitude of the problem. I have no idea what you fly. I do know that in close to fifty years in the flying game I am still on the side of the "GO" brigade.