The fact that no one has made any comments on this story shows how nervous crews are in expressing concerns on major issues.
Perhaps just the fact that it was only a couple of days. Most crew members I know (myself included) have no difficulty addressing any issue, including this one, and providing personal input.
While I fully appreciate that the captain is the final authority, what do you suppose the captain might have done differently, other than acting as directed? Land and shut down. Taxi to a remote area. Fairly boilerplate. Is the captain to then storm the airplane and play hero?
The captain is the final authority as to the operation of the aircraft, and should be kept informed. The amount of information provided regarding a security issue, however, especially if that information can't be transmitted securely, is another matter.
Suppose another party were to listen to the transmission and remote detonate a device or have a means of communication with the bombers? Notifying the pilot of specifics that might have otherwise given law enforcement or agency personnel an advantage could potentially complicate the situation.
While I appreciate the problem for the federal agent on board as he responds to police entering the aircraft to take down a suspect, what could possibly have been done differently? Take time to notify the pilot, who then violates all good protocol and exits the cockpit to find and notify the federal agent? Notify the pilot who then passes the information through the insecure phone to a FA, who then notifies the federal agent?
Yes, police could have contacted the pilot via ATC, and quite possibly should have, if under the assumption or sure knowledge that the cockpit hadn't been compromised or that third parties weren't listening. Would it have made any difference or offered any particular advantage?
Its frustrating not having all the details from inside the locked cockpit. When an operation begins to take down a suspect, however, the person in charge is no longer the pilot in command. It's the incident commander. Until the flight reaches the ground and shuts down, the pilot in command still has ultimate authority for the safe operation of the flight, and for the safe outcome of the flight. Once the flight is over and the law enforcement operation is under way, the pilot(s) become part of the overall operation, but to what degree is really a tactical matter based on what's known of their security and ability to contribute to the outcome.
Did not the company fail to notify the pilots of the situation? The issue with the company failing to pass on the necessary information ought not be blamed on law enforcement.
As for pilots who have made bad decisions and cost the lives of them, and their crews...the books are full of such cases. Pilot error continues to be one of the single biggest contributors to aircraft mishaps. The most dangerous component in the aircraft continues to be...the pilot. Conversely, the single most critical factor that can and does salvage a bad situation continues to be the pilot. Both sides of the same coin.