the penny drops...the PIC is LEGALLY responsible for the safety of the people onboard the aircraft. End of legal story. Want to test it in a Courtroom? So you have three choices, keep tossing the dice (and hope that in the meantime enough buck passing might start to carry enough weight to change the Law), put on enough fuel to carry a 'suitable' alt in anything under 8/8ths of blue, or drive a bus.