I don't think that anyone has suggested that blind adherence to SOPs is either necessary or indeed desirable, and there will be occasions where deviations are required.
However, in this case the deviation from SOP (again, assuming all the facts are correct) was completely unnecessary, and could potentially have resulted in a dangerous situation developing.
Can you explain, sabenaboy, how you consider that it was necessary and safe to pull a circuit breaker in this case, in contravention of explicit instructions from the manufacturer?