grizzled
"...that more people (professionals) present to provide input during any unexpcected or untoward event is clearly a good thing. That exact situation has, in several well-known incidents or accidents, proven to be a real lifesaver."
I am not sure if they had the time to discuss and agree what to do in the AF447 situation, even if they had five on the FD, unless the problems started much earlier than we have calculated. We have the luxury of discussing, and not agree, for two years what may have happened. How long did they have to agree....~two minutes?
".......
your notion of the Captain's role is a tad out of step with current thinking and practice (the past 25 years or so) with regard to decision making and CRM"
Thank you for correcting me on this point. I appreciate it.