Originally Posted by
georgeeipi
How exactly can a pilot tell where they are on the spectrum? To say they can but without explaining how a pilot would do that is at best disingenuous and at worst malicious to the writer.
That's easy: (a) Training and (b) Experience. And, so far as we know, the pilot in this accident had plenty of both.
As is often stated regarding military and ex-military aircraft: "If it's still flying, there's a checklist for that!"