I flew a 3 man 256 sector ONCE !! I will never request another one . I cannot remember being that fatigued on any other trip . I even elected to auto land in good weather as a safety precaution.
What was this. crew thinking?
Add into the is the stress of a diversion, the medical emergency , the tragic loss of a passenger and all the accompanying emotional feelings . The additional paperwork required during the transit and it appears that electing to continue to HKG was a poor choices .
If the decision to extend to the max FTLs was the result of internalized pressure either real or perceived coming from the company ,then we have a serious situation growing.
Giving priority to commercial pressure, over what your common sense is telling you is the safest course of action to take, is deeply troubling . We have seen a number of very similar situations recently where the majority of us have looked at the reported facts . Shook our collective heads and asked the question Why would you do that ? What about safety of the passengers ?
I cannot see how the crew justified the extension with Beijing a very acceptable en route airport where a new crew could have been positioned to take over .
What is also troubling is the fact that there were 3 crew members . did all of them agree to the extension thinking that it was the safest course of action .
Of course the crews decision will never be questioned by the office because it benefited the company in this case BUT had something gone wrong all three would be looking for new jobs