NW_Pilot's Trans-Atlantic Flight -- All the scary details...

In article ,
Matt Whiting wrote:

Stefan wrote:
Larry Dighera schrieb:

A more experienced pilot who had studied the aux tank system may have
been able to mentally diagnose the cause of the fuel venting.


He did everything by the book, but the book was wrong. A pilot is not
supposed to assume that an FAA approved book is wrong! In fact, I'm
scared of pilots who establish their own ad hoc procedures because they
think they know better than the book.

So you think Al Haynes and crew screwed with their DC-10 improvisation?
Personally, I think it is imperative that pilots create their own ad
hoc procedures when the book is wrong or nonexistent. I'm much more
afraid of pilots who keep doing what the book says and are afraid to
think and improvise.

The problem with that statement is that many GA pilots haven't even read
the book to know what it says.