JT
Beg to disagree with your remark of 30 yrs ago.
Papa India - stick push went off three times but was dumped because it was not believed.
No one did a basic aircraft configuration check and the Trident hit the deck with the droop still retracted.
It all comes down to pilot ability and training.
We were trained to not trust the pusher and dump it.
Pitot/static failure training was also ignored.
A BAC 111 had a multiple failure which was caused by water trapped in the static/pitot lines resulting in simultaneous overspeed and stall warnings.
A fighter was scrambled to fly the approach with the aircraft whilst the skipper flew pitch power which wasn't trained in the company at the time.
Management accused him of mis reading the instruments (and being a idiot) until the source was found.
In my opinion the training department and management were to blame - again lack of ability and training.
ITCZ - I operated some of the first europe RIO direct flights.
We had a double crew - six pilots and two engineers.
No captain in their right mind (poss FO as well) would have left the flight deck for the transit through the nasty part.
It could last 1/2 hour or four hours.
Weather radar quality varied between good and absolute cr@p.
Radar turbulence detection worked on amount of water in the cloud - I have had severe turbulence in a relatively dry part of a CB.
Our transits were always in the early hours of the morning when we were dog tired and should have been sleeping.
Whether or not, and I suspect not, the crew were trained and in current practice of flying an aircraft manually in turbulence with instrument failures they faced a monumental task.
If this was the scenario and it is still not sure then why do we have two crew operation?
Why do we not have satellite radar imagery?
Why do we not have full time communications?
Why do we not have wing tip collision avoidance systems?
Cheapskates and industry leaders who put profit before moral responsibility.
I leave open the debate about substandard aircraft systems and sensors until we (if) eventually find the truth.