Airlines and CFIT
Several accidents come to mind:
A B-727 was cleared for approach to Dulles, the crew misread the approach plate and hit the top of a hill. During research of the accident it was determined another airliner did the same thing about a month earlier but barley cleared the hill in IFR conditions.
ATC procedures were soon changed to include an altitude to maintain once cleared for the approach.
The infamous Eastern L1011 crash where the crew were pre-occupied with a burned out landing light indicator. I believe the autopilot became disconnected with three crewmembers on deck and no one caught it. I believe CRM became a big push by the airlines after that but it took years to change institutional mindsets.
A B-727 ended up in the water off of Pensacola during an approach after the FE turned off the GPWS, he thought it was a false message. Anyone want to fly with that crew?
Cali, Columbia, I believe the crew input the wrong fix ID in the system. The wrong fix had an additional letter. It was late at night and at the end of a long flight.
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In those accidents above I don’t think anyone is blaming the hardware
It appears the airlines lowered their accident rates some years after CRM was implemented and followed.
Also, when someone says 10 years of experience do they mean 10 years or 1 year repeated 10 times? As pilots we need to take the responsibility of improving ourselves.