Originally Posted by
etudiant
Not a carrier pilot, but would think that you're doomed to a career on shore after such an event.
The aircraft cost some $100MM, more than 10x what the pilot makes in his/her lifetime and there are hordes of eager replacements.
In war time, when there is a shortage of pilots, it might be different, but now it is just a belated wash out.
That's why the outcome of the investigation is crucial, but it's hard to see a scenario where 'negligence' is a factor. You might have Human Factors in play that used to be tarred with the "Pilot Error" brush - e.g Training - Recency, etc. but as with any aircraft landing, nobody is more incentivized to get it right than the person on the controls. The only difference with a carrier landing is all other options to getting it 100% right have been removed. The cost of the accident/damage is only ever a factor if somebody has royally screwed up, as in actual negligence or culpable behavior. The military has plenty of successful careers littered with very expensive mistakes and mishaps, but no-one is getting billed for a $100M jet, whatever the reason it went in. As for the pilot, it's always cheaper to refresh and retrain than replace, depending of course on what happened on the day.