mstram:
From my perspective, a humble (former) PPL holder, avoiding the extreme weather, seems to be a minor issue as far as this thread is concerned.
The thinking seems to be that with the aid of technology, experience, and bit of good fortune, a pilot should be able to "thread the weather" (as close as possible), without "getting bitten".
I absolutely agree. There has been numerous accidents due to bad weather and humans get-there-itis. I saw one interesting piece on some channel a while ago - a plane heading for Little Rock, Arkansas, all the while knowing there was going to be thunderstorms. Of course they crashed. While this crash apperently is featured on TV, there are tons and tons of other crashes where pilots forgot(?) to turn on CAUTION WEATHER in their heads. Delta 191, the Polish President plane in 2010, AirFrance on a few occasions, a Peruvian airline a while ago, TACA airline that suffered double engine flameout over the Mexican Gulf and so on.
So, how should professional airliner pilots begin to avoid obvious weather hazards? Is it not part of common sense? How does one avoid get-there-itis? When does the Capt stand up and say "enough is enough, I've had it, let's get out of here" due to common sense and a wish to avoid damage to anyone on board? How much is Capt burdened by penalties for diverting or holding until it's safe, no matter the late arrival?
I do not count "invisible" weather phenomena here, like downdrafts from hills, clear air turbulence or volcanic ash esp during night. Reason: Much more unpredictable and hard to see even in broad daylight.