MungoP,
Your posting earlier about the bush flying environment, and those who operate in it is very good, and sums the situation up correctly. Bush pilots are doing highly specialised work, and as you obviously know... an in-depth, intimate knowledge of one's operating area is vital under extreme bush-ops conditions. I know, having been there myself.
That said, it still does not mean that the operators can end up being self-regulating. Unfortunately, the CAA is reasonably / relatively unable to get out to these type of places with any kind of regularity, and so the senior pilot in any such operation will usually end up taking the brunt of the responsibility for safety and regulatory compliance.
Now... Given the real-life requirements of these kind of operations... Out-of-reg', or out-of-limits, becomes fairly normal. Balanced field operations, fully PANS-OPS compliant IFR procedures, W&B, and a host of other factors get interpreted somewhat loosely. All these compromises to established regulations, will, besides taking one closer to the edge of the safety envelope, place one in a legally precarious situation if the doo hits the fan.
What then is the solution...In a real world environment? And in response to that self posed question / challenge, I can only say that it is practically impossible for a pilot to remain legally compliant in the face of such a reality. He, or she must therefore manage the risks as best possible. There will however, be accidents, and the consequences of any rule-breaking can, and will most likely, become a heavy burden to carry.
To all you guys and girls out there who are "making it work" on a daily basis... You are doing great work. What you MUST do however, is try to keep safety at the top of your priority list. Safety based actions / decisions may legally over-ride regulations under certain conditions. But to break the rules as a matter of daily habit is not what anyone should be doing.
I'm not however, implying that this particular B1900 crew were in any way outside of the law. This just seems to be a good place to discuss this difficult subject.
Strength to all the family and friends of the two fellows who went down at Bukavo. They called on their best judgement and skill that fateful day, and the fact that they were in the situation may well have due to an ill-advised instruction from their bosses. Jeppesen updates, comprehensive training, and an SOP compliant operational culture, and Nav database updates cost a lot, and cut into profits.
Maybe the correct culture regarding adherence to air-law, safety policies and legal compliance to technical status should begin at the ab-initio stage where we all get to fly unserviceable aircraft...Just to get the job done. At what stage does this lesson, or example get replaced with something better?
He who fails to learn from, and apply the lessons of history and hard-won experience, is bound to repeat those mistakes... possibly with less fortunate outcomes.
LET's LEARN SOMETHING FROM THIS!