It takes ba**s for many people to admit their mistakes. It may be a bit easier when the post is anonymous, be it on here or CHIRP.
So he made a mistake. In my earlier post I was expressing my opinion on how we as a society assess the seriousness of mistakes. I gave the example of the guy running into the back of a car due to inattention, contrasted with the same accident caused by the driver being on his mobile or even drunk. Most of us would happily slate the second driver in the way some are suggesting Bose is doing, but would be far more forgiving in the first instance.
The poster has had the courage to admit his mistake. The general lesson that if there is any chance the other pilot has derogated responsibility to us we had better measure up to that responsibility is a good lesson and one terribly easy to overlook in many circumstances.
I think in this case Bose is suggesting that an instructor has less excuse than most for making this mistake. I think Bose is suggesting that an instructor who is being paid for his services should reasonably be expected to ensure the flight does not infringe CAS. A mistake it is, but if Bose’s assessment is correct, however harsh, I think he is simply making the point that it was a reasonably serious mistake and one which was difficult to excuse – a view which doubtless the Court also took.
This thread, like any other, is a debate about the issues. I don’t think it is a matter of slating this pilot, nor I would hope is it about any of us being holier than thou, but there would seem to be some merit in discussing how you can end up being totally responsible for the flight when you thought it was down to the other guy and when this happens whether the precursor were mistakes that were serious enough to be on a scale with the driver on his mobile, or were due to momentary inattention, or somewhere in between.
In short lets not polarise the debate into another thread in which we slate each other but have a more interesting discussion about how the command process works in a single pilot aircraft where there are two pilots in the front and if you wish an assessment of whether the mistakes made by this instructor were more or less excusable.