Well, surprised the heck out of me but I seem to have started a thread. My first post on this thread was cut from the Phuket crash thread by a mod.
So, with that in mind I might as well be midly controversial. There are good and bad pilots from all around the world but the 'bums on seats' attitudes of some of the Lo Cos in Asia is directly responsible for most of the incidents that they have had recently. Flying has always been about risk management and being prepared to stand up and be counted to make safe operational decisions. It seems to me (from my ivory tower) that several of the recent events have been caused by the inability to make a safe decision or pushing a bad situation and making it even worse. Lets face it, only 5% of accidents really are accidents. Most are either due to a horrific lack of operational expertise or more likely a chain of events involving several mistakes that lead to a decision. The decision is generally quite simple. This sucks, I've screwed it up or been screwed lets do something different.
They talk about risk shift in CRM and it is amazing how difficult some guys find it to be the first to divert! My experience is that if you do, your alternate is normally empty and you get in and out first. Once one guy has made the decision not to continue its amazing how it almost seems to give other guys permission to follow suit. Some guys will think I'm arrogant but really I'm not. I have the humility to recognise that I am not god's gift to aviation and don't have the ability to land in extreme conditions so would rather go somewhere else, have a cup of tea and comeback when its nice and easy.
Some guys counter that they are under operational pressure etc etc. Well most of the guys putting us under that pressure do not have either the training or understanding of the issues involved. Modern pilots get few chances to make worth while decisions and so had better be ready when one pops up. Ultimately we get paid the big bucks to fly the aircraft within its but more importantly our own limits and to make safe decisions. In Thailand the weather does change quickly but c'est la vie. I guarantee you that Cathay have more diversions every year than almost any other 'Chinese' carrier. And its not because they are 'bad' pilots or weenies. Food for thought.