Although I agree that a pilot shouldn't be "dismissed" for a simple mistake, nobody has considered how the pilot in this particular situation reported the incident.
Hopefully he was honest about it, but if he tried to bluff his way out of it he should at least be heavily reprimanded.
Having said that, I think that far too many operators, big and small, discourage their employees from being open by waving the "big stick" about.
There is so much that can be learned from the errors which are made, or nearly made in some cases, and operators should try to create an environment where pilots should feel encouraged to report any anomalies in an open and honest way so that changes can be put in place where necessary to prevent recurrence.
Last edited by flyer43; 10th Sep 2004 at 09:58.