Windowseat,

Thank you SIr, and quite right

As I said earlier in the scenario I suggested , I would IF in such circumstances arraigned for endangering an aircraft, invoke the public interest defence.

Ponting was charged with a criminal offence under section 2 ( the catch-all provision ) of the OSA . He had nothing else to plead (other than guilty). The jury in accepting his mitigation and ignoring the Judge's direction may not have had in mind or ben aware Lord Coke's famous Judgment in Bonham's case that ( to paraphrase) natural justice sometimes demands ignoring the letter of the law but effectively that is what the Jury's verdict constituted. I would also flag up the House of Lords' Judgment in the case Latif and Shazad ( spelling?) wherein ignoring the substantive issues of entrapment and exclusion of evidence under s78 PACE, Keith L.J ( I think) ruled ( nem con) that although an undercover drugs officer had techinically committed an importation offence, his actions were in the circumstances ' venial'

Finally, within this thread my scenario has been deemed hypothetical with the inference ( I think) being that it need not be seriously considered. To that I would say the following - prior to the Pappa India crash there may well have been some version of CRM in BEA If there were it clearly failed with 3 designated flyers in the cockpit and possibly a positioning pilot in the jump seat unable to unstall despite all the warnings. If Pappa India resulted in the institution of CRM it shows that the hypothetical can become reality.

It ends up like this

Once I took control from a Captain as a junior FO. I took control too late and the situation was a ball ache to sort out (pointing at the ground 2000', flaps 3, TOGA thrust) after a go around done in a piss-poor manner. I sorted it out, but I must say it took me too much time giving verbal advice then instruction before I took control. It isn't an easy thing to do, especially as a very junior FO flying with a senior training captain.

I handed the aircraft back to the captain downwind after he regained his spatial awareness.

I wasn't for a second thinking about legal bollocks, only the safety of the aircraft.

The company view was I did well, but my mistake was to take control too late. Easy to say in the office with the FDM data infront of you and time to think.