Originally Posted by
Band a Lot
"Accepts" and "has" responsibility can be 2 very different things.
Can you put forward the legal document as to when the PIC has legal responsibility, as my understanding in the United case it is not the PIC but the Dispatcher that has responsibility as per the laws and regulations.
Now there is no point studying constitutions and talking common law or anything else if the starting point is someone accepting responsibility when that responsibility is legally someone else's.
I honestly find it astonishing that many pilots claim responsibility as being the responsible one well before they legally are - and get offended when they are directed to the actual documents the prove they are not the responsible one.
Fire or no fire - behind a locked door or not, there is an exact time the PIC has responsibility for persons and craft. If that moment in time is a good or bad point is not relevant as it is a legal one. That should be respected by persons that are tasked with responsibilities.
When things go wrong I bark orders and make decisions, I assume a responsibility but I don't legally have it.