Originally Posted by
RobertP
A permanent record of terrifying incompetence! It still scares me years later.
Exactly this. This is bone-chilling to watch. Such a gross incompetence.
That said, I believe it is unfair to prosecute the airline. While the airline has some responsibility to ensure a certain level of training, it is not responsible for an airmen's basic competence. That is the responsibility of the certificating authority, in this case (I assume) the French government themselves. They issued the airman's certificate and appropriate ratings. They are responsible for the airman's checkrides and recurring bi-annuals.
A taxi company is not responsible for a driver's ability to drive; once the driver presents a valid, government issued driver's license in the appropriate class, the company should be able to safely assume that the driver has had the proper training and driver's test. The same is true here.