I agree with mostly with what nomoreflying is talking about. Having spent a lot of time in cockpits in and around the third world my observation is that some of these guys just dont see the threats, they dont know the pitfalls and have no deep understanding of the accidents that have occured throughout history. Many crews i have flown with would view my attention to detail as simply nerdy paranoia.
"It's a cultural thing. The Western obsession for the sanctity of life is just that, a Western obsession"
I disagree. Everyone values life, make no mistake there will be much wailing and nashing of teeth by the families of these dead 727 pilots. A fatalistic culture combined with normalization of deviance maybe