"By saying 'wow that could have happened to me', you are effectively saying you think it is conceivable that no pilots visually checked and confirmed that all the pitot probe covers had been removed and the probes were clear before their flight.
I find that very disturbing - this is one of the most fundamental things a pilot should check, but if you are saying that you, and they, could easily have forgotten to check the pitot probes, then, yes I fully agree with you; training does need to be improved ! But surely no pilot should need to have the importance of a pitot probe explained ??
Accidents and incidents do happen, but certain things, such as IAS probes, flight controls full and free and operating in the correct sense, etc. are so fundamental they should never be missed."
I have long given up the thought that "inconceivable" accidents & serious incidents can not occur & this particular event I would once thought inconceivable too. When taking into account factors such as fatigue, lack of familiarity with certain airfields, inadequate training, systemic issues etc (the list goes on), I've stopped saying to myself "how the hell did that happen" because supposedly inconceivable accidents & serious incidents (AF 447 is another one) do occur with somewhat regular monotony. If it can happen, it will unless adequate defences are in place to minimise the likelihood as much as possible...
Just my 2 lire's worth...