and yet was teaching Ryanair cadets how to fly the Boeing 737-800 only days before the fatal air crash in question.
I assume there is still some training done in the real aircraft, and it doesn't leave much to the imagination when considering what might have happened.
One man and a boy operations banned? Well, we had to ride shotgun during line training. It was a PITA, but one can see the importance. Having said this, the Pappa Alpha disaster, was not helped by the number of crew.
Throughout my flying career, there have been stories of people suddenly finding they have severer heart conditions having passed their medicals with ease. 20+ years ago, someone died just after passing the 5 year medical at CME. They were 'on the steps of the building.'
Sadly, CAT scans involve X-rays, and MRIs are limited because of the cost/availability. Considering the seriousness of the issue, there may be a case for a 5 year MRI for pilots. Sadly, to give appropriate coverage, they would have to start at age c40.
There is quite a lot on the net about this procedure, but a lot of it is trying to sell a service, and I haven't seen a serious paper on the subject - though I'm sure there will be.
Detecting a few obvious ones still doesn't preclude sudden heart failure. The development of the sonic camera ( inserted in an incision in the groin and looking sideways at the walls of heart vessels ) showed the possibility of an embedded brew of cholesterol and the by-products of inflammation, in pockets in the walls of the critical vessels. This scenario means that even an apparently fit person might have the potential for a sudden heart attack. It is the very process of reacting to the foreign material that causes the blob of matter to be released.
Viewing from outside is difficult, since these vitally important vessels are surprisingly small, and the detection would need highly focused attention to the critical areas, and indeed, very detailed examination of the results. By no means a routine procedure.
I'm not sure we can sit back and say, "It's too difficult - we'll just have to rely on statistics." The potential for another crash on the scale of P.A.is real, and containing a flailing colleague at a critical moment - behind a locked flight-deck door, damned near impossible.