Perhaps helping to get back on track, has the thread established what qualities ‘this dying breed’ have; what makes them so ‘special’ – special to aviation or particular situations, but not necessarily everywhere.
Various notable incidents – disasters avoided, have been quoted, on occasion with indications of personal qualities or abilities which ‘saved’ the day. However, this is not the norm for everyday operations, not the norm for everyone, yet most people seem to manage.
The industry appears to require aspects of the special qualities, a subset or a minimum standard in order to operate safely. What are these aspects and why do they appear to be so important to safety.
If these aspects (qualities) are identifiable, are they inherent, or teachable, only acquired with experience, or all of the above.
What is ‘it’ that matters, what do we understand about it, why does it appear to be in decline, and what can we do about it – assuming that it’s necessary to take action at all.