Good old 411A, "subtle as an air raid", but he does talk some sense. The Nimrod shuts down engines at lower altitudes to enable greater loiter time. The problem with shutting down a motor in the cruise, is the cold soak and difficulty in re-lighting. I can understand why the beancounters panicked when fuel prices spiked, as the Comet burnt 4 tonnes per hour with 119 pax.,and flew like a dream on 3.
Canaries ATC were a positive hinderence in this crash, but I suppose the bottom line is that if you are flying into an island with big hills on one side and sea on the other, you need to know where the hills are located at all times. No consolation now, but I understand that if he had kept the wings level on receiving the GPWS, he would have just cleared the peak.
Hopefully with EGPWS and pop up terrain on the ND, not to mention good CRM training, this sort of crash will eventually be a thing of the past.Last millennium when I was a copilot, I used to keep a notebook of the various captains peculiarities, as SOP's were an optional extra.