Is this pilot error or a violation of governance? I'm not the first to ask the question. Our friends at Dark Matter first raised the point.
Could be either, or neither: it could be mechanical.
How to know? And, does it matter the motivation?
Well, actually yes. Governance is in the wind these days, what with agile and all. On the one hand: all hail initiative and daring! On the other hand: who's got the big picture in mind?
Certainly the 'captain in command' is the ultimate team leader. No central authority can intervene, short of shooting him down (I assume a lady is not in command, but she could be, of course).
And, I'll bet he's not reading the flight manual either! Improvisation is the paradigm.
Trust is what it is about at this point. All concerned, especially the two ground observers, are bound to trust the judgment and skill of the captain.
But motivation is still on the table. The motivation for more agility in governance is to lean out the overhead and concentrate all energy on throughput, that is: governance that actually promotes deliverable output that leads to mission outcomes. Insofar as our daring captain is motivated for the right reasons, I say: yea verily!
