Originally Posted by
HundredPercentPlease
Of course everyone here can do that. The ET crew could do that. Do you really think that an 8000 hour 737 captain didn't know how to do that?
There is no practical difference between a pilot who does not have certain skills and a pilot who cannot demonstrate those skills when needed.
You are missing the point - which is why they didn't do that. Or maybe why they couldn't do that. Or most importantly, why you may not do that as some point in the future.
Actually, this is exactly my point. I'm sure on nice sunny day with no distractions, or maybe with a jumpseater who could provide a third set of eyes, or perhaps during a pre-briefed sim session when they knew the malfunction was coming, either the Captain or First Officer could have parked the pitch at 10 degrees, set the power to 80% N1, trimmed the stab up to neutral no matter what spurious inputs the automation was making, and flown safely away from the ground. Unfortunately, in the real world we do not always have the luxury of being free from distractions, or having that jumpseater, or having our emergencies pre-briefed.
Why indeed could these crews not perform to the standards expected of a commercial pilot? Perhaps automation dependency and lack of hand-flying experience? Maybe an airline and training culture that emphasized rote procedures or systems management over basic airmanship skills? Sim training that was long on following scripts and checklists and short on big picture flying? First Officers that were light on experience and/or discouraged from speaking up when necessary? Perhaps some personal issues with the specific individuals? I could go on, but this would be a good start. I suspect the various accident boards will be looking at all these issues.
Yes, they could have and they should have but they didn't. That is why the human factor element of these accidents cannot and should not be ignored.