He was on some sort of mental berserker. Uncharacteristic I recall, but who's to know on somebody you don't know who is threatening the safety of everyone? In view of what he was trying, a satisfactory outcome that saw to the paramount issue, the safety of the souls on board. And faced with the same, I would do exactly as the LH Captain did, and add a request to save everyone a lot of bother later by doing a thorough job now!