PJ2: ...With the entry of a number of new posters, the thread is now chasing it's own tail with all these comments about [...] flight safety and [...] the safety records of various airlines. These issues were either dealt with a thousand posts ago, or are irrelevant and inconclusive.
PJ2:
Sir, i do have highest respect for your extensive knowledge on the subject yet i can not concur with your statement that comments on flying safety are ' irrelevant and inconclusive '. One can talk about conclusive when discussing technical points which can be proven by referencing to other identical or similar planes/solutions. Yet there are some inconclusive subjects which are as important as the technical ones.
In principle planes crash because of :
- plane (technical) problems - many possibilities have been discussed earlier, also with your, highly respectable, input. Seems that the F-GZCP plane was fit for the flight and whatever technical problems encountered the plane itself was not a direct cause for the crash. Still there are open issues about AI approach to flight automation which were thoroughly discussed with many improvements proposed
- environment (weather) problems - discussed earlier in the thread with excellent Tim's & al input. The weather was bad yet typical for the time and area. Planes do fly the same route every day.
- pilots error - just a possibility but as it is extremely delicate matter to be discussed among pilots this part was not so carefully discussed. As tough it is, still it has to be analysed because it MAY reveal aspects that MAY have lead to the tragic crash. Especially that those aspects are sometimes referred to as soft or indirect ('economy' training being already discussed, corporate culture discussed a little) - still having crucial influence on many things. The water also can drill the stone if given enough time. Last few days has brought some light on this subject and even more input is needed to grasp the problem. Even the captain is reporting to someone... If flying crew made mistakes lets identify them and teach others to avoid them. If roots of the mistakes are in the corporate politics lets identify them and imply change to the corporate ethics/policies before some other pilot fill find himself and his plane in problems
PJ2: ...Can we not do better than this?
yes, we have to. In memory for the 3 flying crew and 9 cabin crew members and all 216 passengers. And all other people that are bording the planes every day, in every part or the world.