But the idea that my authority trumps the safe conduct of the flight is wrong. This is literally the basis for why CRM started. Aviation safety has never been plagued by streaks of accidents caused from outspoken FO's or FE's. The issue has always been the opposite: A captain unwilling or unable to listen. A lot of this discussion has focused on the breakdown of communication from CA to FO when we have dozens accident records showing the opposite. I'm willing to wager Captain Van Zanten might have retired from an illustrious career at KLM if the FO had been encouraged by good CRM and training to call and abort.

The manual could easily change to give the FO the same authority to take the controls as the 2 challenge rule, or initiate the abort if they call out the fault but the captain does not verbalize "continue" and they assume incapacitation. None of this seems unreasonable to me. If the captain can have the reasonable expectation that the FO will call out the fault clearly and concisely, the FO can have the expectation that the CA will make a ready and prompt decision to abort or continue.

Giving the FO the agency to keep me and the passengers alive does not encroach on my captain's authority.