Originally Posted by
Eutychus
To that I venture to reply that while my ignorance may be breathtaking (although somewhat reduced after participating here) if professional pilots want to counter the likes of Wingly, they need make the issues a lot simpler to understand if they expect us lesser mortals to have any chance of making useful distinctions.
Particular thanks to those who have taken the time to do some education for my benefit (and doubtless a lot of non-posting readers).
Let me try to make it simple:
1) A big piece of metal such as an aeroplane may fall out of the sky and kill you if things go wrong.
2) This has happened before and every time it happens there is a comprehensive analysis to try and prevent its recurrence.
3) When it does happen, rules and procedures are put in place to prevent it happening again. Sometimes nobody could have guessed the cause before it happened.
4) Professional pilots know these rules and procedures. The more complicated the aeroplane, the higher level of skill required.
5) The worse the weather, the higher level of skills and experience required.
6) If a pilot ignores 4 and 5 together, they may not have enough experience to even guess at what could go wrong, let alone prepare to mitigate the risk. 'Best guesses' are of no value whatsover unless you have the experience to be able to make them.