at some point a will to survive must kick in
simply, no.
The point at which they realise they are in a survival situation is too late to do something about it.
In one sense, there is a real risk with people putting themselves into situations they know to be risky because they haven't been properly trained. This should apply to a lot of aircrew having read the AF447 report. Could I do any better with the training my company gives me?
However, the immediate survival risk of losing your job for making a stand overrides the more psychologically distant risk of being unable to cope if something unusual happens.
People rationalise. They tell themselves they'll cope, or "it'll never happen to me"; probably most do a bit of both.
Thus we end up with the situation we have in so many industries. The ones who make a stand get sacked. An increasing proportion of the remaining ones have either an inflated sense of their own skills, or too low a sense of self-esteem to complain,or they 'need the job'. With all of those, a management who only cares about their own bonuses will get away with anything they can. The only solution is an effective justice system to deal with unethical senior management. The ability to prosecute companies for corporate manslaughter in the UK has existed for nearly 50 years. There has been one successful prosecution, of the one-man company responsible for the Lyme Bay canoe tragedy. And there's an awful lot of bankers retired on nice pensions, with not one of them even accused.