Perhaps I should have added a
!
It's an interesting situation though. I recall QF telling me innumerable times over the years that you need to be both safe AND legal. Were EK legal in this circumstance? The PIC knows he isn't breaking any aviation laws but he's still breaking the law.
Again, I think it says an interesting thing about an organisation's culture when they're quite happy to break the law and cop the fine because that's the cheapest/ easiest thing to do.