I donīt think he should be tried in a criminal hearing at all, but now that he is I think regardless of the weather at the time he is going to find it hard to justify taking off after ī30 mins prior to ECTī.
Even if the weather was CAVOK and nil wind.....how do you justify it given that the reason the rule is there, is to allow you enough time to get around the circuit and land before it's too dark. There are dozens of reasons why a return would be preferable to a divert to NZCH, thats why they are not the only airline to have that rule. He would have to argue that it was safer to use his command powers to break the rule than to return to the gate and put everyone in a hotel. I canīt imagine that argument being successful.
Does anyone know why this ended up in court instead of being dealt with through some retraining?
My GP made a dubious judgement call last year, everything worked out well though, I suffered no harm.....why isnīt he in court?