Which Do You Prefer: Dinner or DEATH!!!?

But in all seriousness, this story made me very sad. I don't understand why the crew didn't decide to go around when the ground proximity warning system went off, and I wish the controller had let the crew know they didn't appear to be lined up with the runway. Obviously, "the boss" had a big role to play in this accident. If he was so concerned about getting to dinner, why was he late to the airport? When I read about him I thought about the "we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone" policy many businesses uphold. The pilot should have disregarded the passengers and focused on his job. The grumpiness of the passengers has nothing to do with his goal: to get to the destination safetly.  However, after making the decision to fly the passengers to Aspen, the pilot for some reason allowed one of the passengers to sit up front in the cockpit during the approach, when they knew the approach was a difficult one in good weather. Add this distraction to the deteriorating weather, the setting sun, and the fact that the three aircraft prior has executed a missed approach, and the disaster starts to make sense. The pilot really needed to focus on the job at hand but he failed to do so, despite the multiple warnings being shouted at him. In the end, the pilot really should have made the decision to divert to Rifle, even as late as reaching the MDA. I feel if I were in this situation, it would be important to distance myself from the grumpy passenger, perhaps refer him to the flight attendant or someone else who is not directly in control of the safety of the flight. There is a reason they don't let family members in the operating room with doctors and it feels just as important to keep passengers away from pilots.