Judgmental opinions arising from 20-20 hindsight are worthless. We need to know why, not just what. And while we are at it, we should also ditch the focus on the texting stuff and instead bundle it with operating electronic devices. There are more distracting FMS and RNAV systems than mobile phones, yet they appear to be acceptable to use. Also, we must accept that legislation, more stringent SOP's, additional regulations will not necessarily improve safety.
Bronx's last post may lead us in the right direction. For example, I hadn't realised that 10,000 hour pilots in charge of highly sophisticated and very expensive helicopters weren't always paid a salary. I'm also no wiser in understanding how charter contracts work when a job can not be executed, either because of poor weather or technical malfunctions. Who gets paid what etc.
Only if we can see things through Peter Barnes' eyes as he saw them will we be able to prevent the next person from seeing what he did, resulting in a similar outcome.
PM