There's a lot of over complicating a simple case here. I am a simple guy and like to keep things easy. In many airlines they have an analysis system when problems crop up; to help the crew find their way through the maze of info, options etc. and to avoid rushing into the first option that pops into your head. In Cali they were perfectly on VNAV descent into a STAR for an ILS. It was dark, the PF had not been there before, they had briefed only the northerly ILS, they were FL200, 60nm out at 280-300kts. They were asked "if they'd like a straight in NPA to the southerly". Consider the facts from a simple airmanship point of view. Which part of NO THANKS don't you understand. All the 'causal contributions' came afterwards. The root cause was not mismanagement of the FMS, and Jeppe mistakes and Boeing mistakes with no auto-stow speed brake etc.etc. It was the overwhelming desire to try and save 10mins and change from a very safe Plan A to a very dodgy unprepared Plan B. That to my simple mind is an airmanship problem. That is the root cause of many prangs. Trying to dress it up afterwards as something else is not just. It smells like a mistake, sounds like a mistake and flew like a mistake. 10 minutes late is better than 20 years early. This will sadly not be the last such demonstration of rushing into a black smoking hole somewhere in the aviation world in the future. Such sad events have a habit of repeating themselves. Even if Jeppe had programed the R point correctly I judge the chances of a G/A to have been high. Either that or the chances of sliding off the end.... It should have been a non-starter. This is not easy hindsight, it is looking at the peformance parameters, the crew experience, the time of day and the type of approach in Plan B. "NO THANKS ATC. Kind of you to offer, but...." I stand by my opinion. We can agree to disagree. Fine.