I'd also say the decisions made by this pilot were made from a long chain of bad ones made by others.
Aeroplane changes, commercial pressure, maintenance issues, rushing, self imposed pressure, client pressure, it all lined up on this occasion to produce an undesirable outcome.
At the end of the day this poor fella was just trying to get a leg up like all of us in the industry and got himself in a bit of a bind.
I know for a fact that at 200 hours I would have discussed the same issues with the same engineer and been in that same seat after hearing the same responses to my raised concerns. Does that make me a bad pilot? No. It makes me an inexperienced one. Experience comes the hard way in this game.
When he opened the door he was probably putting on a brave face, trying to salvage what was left of his, and the companies credibility. You certainly wouldn't open the door in tears.
So if you see this poor bugger who is down on his luck looking for work, buy the man a beer and give him some words of encouragement. I certainly would.
And CASA, (i know youre reading this) instead of going after him, how about showing him some compassion and help him. It may be a chance to actually engage with industry and show that you are not after the little guy. You are there to support and educate them. You know, safe skies for all?
Perhaps some free briefs on EFATOs and a one hour lesson on them would be some good
PR.
See these guys need protection from the industry just as much as the public. It's like going after the guy with a drug addiction instead of the dealer.
Food for thought?