ACT 700:
I would also say piss poor working conditions and wages were also a contributing factor to that accident. The "profession" is in a crisis in North America and the brightest minds aren't throwing their $80,000 dollars on the table to start flying lessons. Frankly, if these young pilots had any sense they would go and do something else for a living because they aren't going to earn a very good one flying airplanes. That is the real tragedy.
As to the requirement for theoretical knowledge - In my view, there is a significant difference between preactically understanding high altitude, high speed aerodynamics (a requirement) and knowing what an unlabelled graph represents.
Chuychanga:
My post was written in jest.
Good luck to you.