One thing to consider here is the so-called fundamental attribution error. The error is that we tend to blame our mistakes on our circumstances and blame others’ mistakes on their character. Simple example: when I’m irritable it’s because I’m under pressure but when someone else is irritable it’s because they’re an a-hole.
In the case of the mistakes that others make, IMHO, it is most productive to wonder what things could happen *to* us to put us in the same position. My own thoughts are: the I’m safe acronym, being under time pressure, being rusty, and forgetting my written check lists.
When a checklist is interrupted, it is very easy to skip items. Habit capture is where we are supposed to do something different but forget to when the time comes, and just keep doing what we do out of habit; maybe he moved the control lock to a different part of his checklist. In this case, target fixation is just a type of distraction from the list.