Thank you for your replys
Bookworm
My point is that there are more accidents when low hour pilots operate without appropriate guidance.
I believe there is a responsiblity when hiring an aircraft to a club member whether he is a 20,000 hour airline pilot or a student. I believe it to be part of a process which I call professional flying. If me, trying to act as a responsible professional pilot is nonsense to you I apologise.
To Gemma and Tony
First of all please read and understand what I said
It is interesting to see that everyone lays the blaim completely with the pilot. Knowing more than some of you might I would suggest it may be educational to also look in the direction of the school he learnt to fly at, the instructors, the standards and the pilots flying order book.
This is not pointing the finger of blame at the flying club and to suggest such would be defamation, please look again at the underlined text.
Consider that hiring an aircraft from this club would require authorisation. Authorisation, not from a cleaner but a qualfied and experienced pilot most likely a flying instructor. Ask yourselves how you define authorisation and what you would expect from the authoriser? If the pilot had written in Heathrow or Fair Isle would you have just expected a signature and a pat in the back too? Interestingly at the same club (many years ago)I saw the situation where a PPL wanted to go to a grass strip and when the CFI came to authorise it he refused saying, " you might get in with the Regent buy you will only get it out on a lorry!"
Here is another example that may encourage further discussion outside of the blinkered box many of you seem to be in but please remember we are all agreeing this accident was pilot error, its just that I like the phrase ERROR CHAIN better as it encourages less bias and therefore more proactive discussion.
Around 28 years ago I was at the club concerned in the bar having a discusion with someone I knew and liked very much. We were talking about flying in cloud. something this pilot did all the time as a PPL. He was very proud of the fact that he had never had a days instrument training in his life. I still remember his words well he said, " I am happy to sit in cloud all day".
The discussion went into all the training he should have had and the fact he should not be flying in cloud without proper training, I gave him a moderate bollicking I suppose. When I left the club bar and was oustide I put my ear to the door to listen to what he would say next and again I will never forget his words.
"You cannot tell these young instructors anything"
The next year he flew into the Snowdon range while flying from Birmingham to the IOM killing himself and 5 passengers. Ironically just a few miles away from the accident we are discussing