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I just skimmed through this thread. In my years of flying, one of the things that has kept me out of trouble is some advice a wing commander of mine gave to all of us flying his airplanes. He said "I want you to picture my face in your HUD when you are flying my jets. If you can't explain to me what you are doing, than you probably shouldn't be doing it." He was a crusty old combat veteran, and didn't have a very pretty face, but ever since then when I start to "test the limits" I just picture myself explaining to him what it is I'm doing and why. That has kept me out of a lot of trouble.

After reading this last article, I think these guys needed a bit of the same advice. They CLEARLY were fully aware they were goofing off. The job is dangerous enough without adding unprofessional joy rides to the mix. Almost nothing good ever comes from flights flown with the mindset these guys exhibited. Based on all the company regs they violated, would you really want them flying in your company? ALPA is making a lukewarm attempt at shifting the blame to airline training, but all the formal training in the world doesn't count for much when guys willingly and repeatedly break the rules. As a professional pilot and ALPA member, I find this whole incident embarrassing.

You have Freepmail.

My first aerobatic instructor told me....

"Don't shine your ass, it'll kill ya!"

That's what I think when I'm ready to do something stupid.