I think "mega rich guys" or whoever is paying to travel on a private aircraft should expect to get a high level of care by the operators of said aircraft. from the ops department to the flight crew. to carry on the chauffeur analogy, one would expect the car to be checked by the mechanics, but for the driver to make sure the car was gassed up, with sufficient washer fluid etc before embarking on a long trip. as you would expect your pilots to to carefully carry out their pre flight checklist!
I am most interested by the human factors here, especially the complacency factor and how it can impact such experienced airmen. and it is not just the fact that they (almost) never did their checklist... it is the fact that they had several warnings, from the rudder not working to the power not coming up as usual, and they just ignored them! and then the time it took for them to react once they realized what was going on.
these were super experienced guys! PIC had more hours than the majority of posters on this site i would wager. (certainly WAY more than this poster!)
i am not trying to criticize them, but learn from this.
it seems that by flying with the same FO for 12 years in the same aircraft somehow deadened their senses and almost "zombified" them. pilots at major airlines fly with different crew every day, so they realize they have to be sharp and professional. but does that stop us getting complacent about ops at a field we fly into/out of every flight? how do we make sure we do not sink too deep into our comfort zone when it is the same dispatch, the same voice on the RT, the same SID/STAR every time?
asking questions and hoping to keep alert myself! if that kind of thing could happen to them, it could happen to anyone.
safe landings all