meanest man,
Around 80% of aircraft accidents are caused by Human error. In the airline industry at least, there has been a concerted effort to identify and manage errors in order to promote saftey.
One vital part of this on going effort has been to recognise one simple truth:- PEOPLE MAKE MISTAKES! They always have and they always will.
To simply fire someone for making a mistake, even a serious one, is both counter productive and inane. You are assuming that you are getting rid of a "Bad egg" and replaceing them with a good one. What you are in fact doing is getting rid of someone who is a human being, and replaceing tham with ANOTHER human being just as prone to error.
The idea is to 1) accept that errors occur and 2) minimise them by putting systems in place to minimise them.
So to this case. Did the company have written checklists and insist on their use? Did it have a rigid saftey culture and checking system? Why didn't the Gear Warning Horn sound? (When I flew Navahos, the company modified them so they didn't go off till just above idle, 'cause it scared the passengers. No doubt a wheels up would have scared them more!!).
The pilot is like the goal keeper. He is the last line in the chain of saftey. For one error on his part to lead to an accident means there has been a chain of ommisions before it got to him, and simply sacking him is a form of the company denying it's responsibility to create an over all saftey culture.