Caz
Thanks. Understood.
There are, however, occasions when the Aircraft Captain has to bite the bullet and say "No" - irrespective of the rank or status of the passengers.
Agreed.
However, I’d say that to make such an informed decision, one must be first of all informed. A common factor in all the examples I quoted is that the various problems/risks were known by a few, but not conveyed to the aircrew. Again, that is a serious, and systemic, breakdown of the Airworthiness and Safety Management Systems. As reiterated by Coroner Masters a week or so ago.