ELAC said
What may be occurring is that the diminshment of accidents caused by other factors leaves the ones caused by this factor more readily apparent to us, and that's a good thing, but this does not justify the degree of hue and cry about the failings of the modern pilot that some like to put forward, nor does it suggest that radical changes in the approach we have to the use of automation are necessary or beneficial.
I don't find this to be true at all. I've studied hundreds of accident reports and it has been very rare in the past to see gross flying errors leading to deaths. Of course one has any number of CFIT crashes, and while that does represent a gross error, it's not of the same sort as flying a perfectly good airplane straight into the ground on finals. I really do see a trend toward accidents resulting from basic flying mistakes that practically represent a new category.
I often wonder if this trend originates is the relative dearth of high-hours ex-military pilots in the game now.
-drl