Are there parallels here with the Turkish incident at Schiphol ?
Sadly - yes.
The bells and whistles, the honkers and hooters, the flashing lights and disembodied electronic voices, the omniscient computers are all - REPEAT ALL - aids for the Flight Crew to use at their discretion and not to rely upon for all flight operations.
They are not (and never were intended to be) a substitute for good airmanship.
But, increasingly, that is how they are being used. We are breeding flight crews who simply have no idea what 'seat of the pants' flying is all about - something that Captain Sully alluded to in at least one of his interviews after his Hudson River escapade.
Yeah - I'll get flamed here but I've been flying aeroplanes for 30 years. During my training and during all subsequent ratings and renewals I had one mantra drummed into me over and over and over again "AIRSPEED and ATTITUDE" and it is still there, running through the back of my mind, through take-off, climb, cruise and approach.
The most high-tech dials I ever get to use are an ADF and a VOR. For all other purposes the standard 'T' gives me all the information I need to fly the aeroplane correctly and accurately.
Have we really reached the point where those basic skills are beginning to disappear in favour of an MSFS approach to professional aviation?
Because, if there is the slightest indication that this might be true, then I may never set foot aboard a commercial aircraft again.