When I read an incident report like this, I try to imagine what the incident report could have looked like if the crew had reacted differently.
For example, when an incident report concludes that the pilot failed to follow the manufacturer’s published stick shaker response manoeuvre, the incident report omits the possibility that if the pilot had have followed the published manoeuvre, then it could have resulted in one of the world’s most tragic mid-air collisions.
Centaurus, you write a lot of good posts, and you are obviously a life-long student of aviation incidents and accidents, as we all should be. But please don’t be so dismissive of the “human factor” that is so prevalent as a contributing factor in many historical disasters. Yes, we should all know how to fly the fcking aircraft, but understanding our human limitations is crucial to continued safe flying. It’s not some dreamed-up lefty PC bull**** we use to excuse the Gen-Y’s. We used to say “toughen up princess”, but the planes kept crashing. We’re above that now, we’ve worked out that we’re humans. We can help prevent future disasters by studying and training the human element.
Although, according to a few other posters, it couldn’t possibly happen to them, because they are obviously aviation legends.
As for the “Sky God” comments from some, I work for Qantas. I consider myself very fortunate to do so. But not because Qantas made me a “Sky God”, in fact the opposite. Qantas taught me to be humble, recognise that my next flight could be my last, identify my weaknesses, learn from others, be conservative and safe, and never stop learning. They created a culture of self-reporting so that others can learn from my mistakes and I won’t be sacked unless I was reckless or rogue. They have a training/checking policy of training above checking, and the goal of a simulator session is to learn something rather than fear of failure. They don’t consider that to be perfect either, they constantly seek feedback on their training and checking, which they actually read. They certainly never taught me to think that I’m a better pilot than the next guy, but there seem to be a few others on this thread who think they are.
The reason bulk tax dollars are spent producing reports like this is so that we can all learn from them. I don’t see a lot of learning in this thread.
If I had a choice, I would prefer to fly with the crew from this incident over those legends on this thread who see fit to criticise their industry colleagues. Why do pilots do this? I’ve never witnessed a pilot gaining respect from their peers through self-promotion or deprecating others. (Edit: ok yeah there was this one QF guy who wrote a book, but most of us don’t drink with him).