Gumbi,sky9,MPH,Hogwash,Big Buddha and Scimitar you all make very valid points.
Excuse me if I rant some more, but as I said the type of rubbish characterised by this article in The Independent and reinforced by the likes of Mr Learmount do get right up my nose.
A couple of points I just can't let slip by without comment.
Rongotai, with all due respect, I'm sure you're a very talented and much respected consultant as your wordy and erudite posting would obviously imply, but you contradict yourself! You state that over the next 20 years as the well trained and experienced "hands-on" guys retire, then accidents of the Gulf Air kind will increase. Did it ever occur to you that the commander on this flight was of the very age group that you're holding up as an example of "the good old days" of wonderfully experienced, incredibly skilled aircraft handlers?
Another quote from you - these older pilots can "easily and almost immediately access their deep level conceptual knowledge about the principles of flight." That will be of great help in an Airbus with an engine fire on take off.
I could keep going on this one but I'll resist.
Go with the flow, you say "surprising and as a non ATPL involved in another sphere of systematic risk prevention how insular some of the posts here appear". To be honest, I'm not sure what your point is, but it sounds to me very like "I always knew they just pushed buttons, when will they own up to the fact that they're simply overpaid bus drivers?"
Self Loading Freight, you say "it sticks in the craw when people say bloody journos...."etc. So let me get this straight...The Independent print what I believe to be a complete load of hogwash spouted by Mr Learmount, denigrating my and my colleagues professionalism, but you're the one feeling aggrieved because some of us chose to criticise this imprecise piece of second rate journalism? You then go on to do exactly the thing that gets our backs up in the first place - I quote "those who sit in their armchairs at the front of a Boeing....", once again perpetuating this myth that we're sitting in luxury at the front, dozing quietly in the warm comfort of sheepskin, pressing the odd button now and then, all the time reassured by the soft glow of the lights as the autopilot speeds us on our way. The reality is a sore arse from spending the last eight hours with a Boeing strapped to it, a sore gut from too much coffee drunk to keep the eyelids open after weeks of getting up at four in the morning for earlies, in dire need of a sh*t from crappy airline food but not wanting to use the far from private toilet, which is now awash with unmentionables after a long charter and whose noxious fumes fill the cockpit. Meantime there is the constant chatter of ATC in my ear while I try to brief the approach, and in the other ear the cabin crew have just told me they have a medical problem with one of the passengers. Finally their is the prospect of a diversion on arrival as the weather is closing in, followed by a hand flown approach in winds gusting to 50 kts with minimum fuel. A very strange armchair....Oh, and by the way, it seems to me an aviation journalist should have an expert knowledge of his field, in the same way he would expect me to have an expert knowledge of mine.
And then we get to The Guvnor. Guvnor, again with all due respect, you state that when the time comes for us to earn our lifetime's salary in the space of a minute or two, the chances are it will not be something we've practised in the sim.....well, sorry to disagree, but quite obviously, statistically, it will be. Events like Sioux City do happen, but they are statistically insignificant. It is testimony to the success of modern training and the skills of pilots that the more likely events such as engine failures and depressurisations are dealt with successfully in the majority of cases when they occur. Of course these do not make good news copy.
You also state that it's highly questionable if, in your words, "younger pilots" had been at the controls, whether the outcome of Sioux City would have been as favourable. It seems to me this is a red herring - if they have experience of this type, then who knows? If flying new equipment, then they will have the skills to cope in that.
I feel drained now.........ho hum
