PEI - a thoughtful post, but I have to pass a few comments:
Para 1 - 100%% agreement
Para 2 - no - had they 'sneaked a look' they would have instantly seen that their heading/track and position were all wrong. I don't believe for a moment that they did nor that they knew where they were. Ground, buildings zipping past in the grot? A 10,000ft runway that seemed to go on and on for 3 or 4 miles?
Para 3 - absolutely, of course we took 'risks' - but who were our passengers? Yes, we are/were 'risk takers', but is it not 3 words? Duty of care? How many times would you bust the altitude limit of your airliner just because?
Para 4 - no argument, but was the Captain in his mind 'taking risks'?
I said many pages ago I felt I could write the CVR transcript,. I still do. I suspect the F/O had suffered the 411A 'short-CRM' course of 'Gear up shut up' - great as we know for a multi-crew environment.(oh, I forgot............). The fact that the last moments appear to have included 'Sir -pull up' speak volumes.