I aint negative at all about old folks, i am negative about people who bull their crews about doing some non standard maneuver unbriefed, unapproved based on some personal assumptions...
I do know the difference between guidelines and law,however most guidelines come from the law...and disregarding sops in general treating them as mere guidelines is a state of mind that i deplore.
Many accidents result from loss of situational awareness,and following sops,especially in an emergency is a very important tool to maintain this awareness.
Well said Sir.
I'm all for free thought, suggestions, doing it differently, etc. but you'd better have a lead-lined, copper-bottomed mother-****** of a good reason to roll your own ET on the spur of the moment.
It's interesting listening to a briefing where someone gaily says something like "In the event of blah blah, we'll do a visual circuit or turnback onto RWY XXX". Fine in a PA28 but if you're down to one engine and one hundred tonnes over MLW, just how are you going to do that? It is well outside most people's experience, I would suggest, so it's going to be a real voyage of discovery as new facts about bank angle, turning radii, monster Vrefs and bugger! I can't slow down! are all found out about on the fly. Also, one of the major possibilities when you're gunning for a rapid return is that there is uncontrollable smoke on board. Now we're doing it all with Aliens on our faces!
Much as de facto says, there's a big breakdown in CRM and SA when non-standard emergency procedures are initiated for no really good reason apart from "because I can". That's not to say that on very rare occasions some thinking and action outside the box might be required but that should be obvious to all on board. Our FCOM begins with (paraphrased) "These are the rules, break them if you must to stay safe."