"Yes, what the captain did was illegal - but it was hardly dangerous."

Yep, You said it, End of Story. This guy didn't mistakenly bust an altitude, turn left rather than right, or even fail to correctly recover from a stall. He intentionally violated regs, exceeded limitations, and became a test pilot with pax on board.

My only complaint is that the whistleblowing FO did not flat out refuse to fly.

And regarding accommodating jumpseaters.... I would never ask nor expect a crew to fudge the numbers, risk their tickets, or the passengers to get me on. I want to get where I am going, but idea of a V1 cut on a high, hot day and just a few pounds over gross isn't worth it.