Hyperbole but "Befehl ist Befehl" is also a 'correct attitude to rules'. (I think they hung the individual that made those words famous.)
Rules are a necessary part of structure, but they are what they are- guidelines, not expected to cover every contingency. That's why the PIC has expressed authority and responsibility to deviate in the event of an emergency to the extent necessary. Rationally, that doesn't mean the rules are suspended if an emergency arises. It means the responsible authority recognizes the limitations of rulemaking to cover every situation possible. Poor decision making isn't necessarily anti-authoritarian, it's usually ignorance or the result of tunnel vision, neither of which are resolved by regulation.
Opining that "the (GoM) accident rate is very high and seems to be caused by poor decision making and operational procedures i.e not observing rules." is the purest speculation and irrelevant to this accident discussion, unless you believe that this pilot was instructed and expected to do exactly what was apparently attempted- landing under the rig. I would be very surprised to learn that that was true, as I know for a fact that a pilot was fired for doing this very thing, landing under a rig. It was an astounding incident then and would be now.
Last edited by Devil 49; 9th Jun 2012 at 04:13.