It all depends on a; if any regs were violated

There's no evidence of this as of yet, but =anytime= something comes to
the attention of the FAA I expect they will look all over for missing dots.

The second landing [...] was the result of a calculated decision made
by the Captain to extend into the flight plan. This decision ADDED to
the situation when the fuel came up short. In other words, the
decision to extend was flawed.

I don't agree. You could be correct if there were only =one= decision -
for example, to cross middle of the Atlantic, with no alternatives until
the destination. But this was not the case. I'm sure that decisions
were made all along the way that they can continue at least to point
A... then when over A, at least to point B... etc. None of those
decisions to continue a bit further would have compromised safety, and
each one takes them closer to a successful and safe outcome. Well,
finally they get to Q, and decide that they should =not= continue to R
(the destination) because to do so would adversely impact safety, so
they land at Q.

There is a safe outcome (landing with plenty of fuel and options), but
arguably not a successful one (passengers are not =at= their
destination. However, the passengers are (maybe) within a bus ride of
their destination, which is better than being an ocean away. The
airplane is much closer to home turf. The airplane landed with low fuel
rather than a fuel overload, which is safer for landing anyway, and
all the fuel was used to move the airplane and its cargo towards its
destination, rather than being wasted.

I will take it at face value (approved by FAA and BA) that the procedure
is "safe enough". I'm not going to second guess a hundred professionals
who know more about jumbo jets than I've forgotten about piston singles.

I also take what you say (about the political aspects of any situation
like this) at face value. But politics doesn't =change= the right
answer. It just sometimes punishes it.

One should always bear in mind the difference between an error and an
unfortunate outcome.

Jose
--
Nothing is more powerful than a commercial interest.
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