Going after the engineer is not the answer.You go after the system.If you have to play the blame-game,attack from the top-down.The flight crew will carry the can but if you want the big picture,you have to delve deeper.Why did the Spanair CP not collate and disseminate the lessons learnt from Detroit and Lanzarote,why did he not emphasize the frailties of the MD-80 air-ground system to his crews,and why did he not instigate Boeing's recomendation?
Encourage a training culture where system knowledge is taught at a much deeper level.Dont scratch the surface.Very often a pilot only knows that if X happens he must do Y.He may or may not know why X has happened and why Y is remedial.And you test this level of in-depth understanding orally in a classroom with visual props/aids with engineers as instructors .This CBT is okay but its superficial and promotes rote memorization over lateral thinking borne out of a thorough understanding of the systems.Of course its cheaper and less time-consuming which is why they do it.
They spend time and money on CRM classes telling us that the flight deck is a democracy(which it isnt) and what they should be doing instead is devoting those resources on a return to the fundamentals.Return the role of the CP to its original glory;he sits at board level,is divorced from economics totally,and fights for his one and only mandate;safety.