I'm still not buying it...The way the CTC guys are being talked about suggests they are doing something significantly different in the way they teach IFR than the rest of us:
- The weather was the same for all of them, and I don't disagree that it was a crap day, but that's not a disadvantage to anyone in particular.
- The twinstar is an interesting one: I think it could work both ways - they could be used to looking at the nice pictures (no Flight Director, unlike Ardmore's Duchess) and the map on the MFD, which they wouldn't have in the Beech.
- Familiarity at Hamilton is no excuse either - Sunair, AFS, North Shore, Bay Flight - they all end up at Hamilton often enough (though anyone further afield would be slightly out of their element).
Eagle is the filter from NZ GA - Nelson and Cook won't look unless you've got heaps of Multi ATO, and that tends to be in a more structured environment (180 day checks, etc).
It concerns me that we're talking about Eagle like we expect the bar to be lowered to accommodate those we think should get in. Either you're good enough or not, and if it went really badly maybe the so-called unprofessional behavior from the Eagle captains was warranted. We clearly don't know enough to be making these calls.