Alouette,
So, two crew or single pilot, sophisticated aircraft or not, the best thing to do on a bad weather day is to stay on the ground.And, Shy Torque, that is straight out of the airmanship book of rules.
Yes, by not flying you mitigate most aviation risks. I had already worked that one out about forty years ago. Like any other pilot, obviously I have cancelled flights due to weather, and I have gone around from a few approaches and/or diverted. On a few occasions I have made the highly unpopular decision to leave a helicopter on the ground and gone home by other means and come back for it later when the conditions improved enough to make a safe departure.
I can't tell you what I would have done on the occasion in question because I wasn't there, and neither were any of us. Obviously, the decision to scrub due to weather is easier for non IR'd pilots but I can tell you that my own decision would not have been based on the demands of the passenger, however much that decision was challenged. I've been paying money into my pension for many years and I damn well intend to enjoy my retirement, which seems to approach ever more rapidly.
I certainly don't condone taking off or landing below safe limits with regard to visual references, (self preservation rules OK), however I challenged the reference to "breaking all the rules in the book" because I saw it as unjustified. The person who posted it didn't refer to which book that was, and hasn't responded to my question to see if his/her claim could be qualified.
None of us know the cause of this accident, however obvious it might seem from what has been published in the media, or here. I think it far more appropriate, on what is supposed to be a forum for professional pilots, to wait to find out the result of an official and expert investigation, rather than see deceased pilots pilloried in public without proper justification.
If the cause was not directly related to met conditions (and I accept that it may be), experience tells me that no-one here will issue a public apology for their unjustified, inappropriate comments. They quietly slink away.
If you see it as acceptable, then go ahead; but hopefully my point has been made.