Originally Posted by
Old Carthusian
It is precisely a matter of knowing your machine, nothing more and nothing less. Knowing what it does, knowing what happens if the various flight states are in operation. It's really a simple thing - it's called professionalism. If the machine is complex then one needs to be able to work on a different level but one needs to prepare. It's called flying and it seems it isn't encouraged these days.
Of course "knowing your machine" is a very important element, and agree 100% with parts of the post that are about that. The training and policies failed to prepare the pilots to avoid the situation (first), and then to recover from it (second).
Originally Posted by
Old Carthusian
But the aircraft is not responsible for this - the computer systems aren't responsible for this, the manufacturer isn't responsible for this. The airline is. Isn't it time to stop chasing after red herrings? The accident is the responsibility of the pilots flying and the airline which put them in the situation. It is not due to the complexity of the machine or even the interface but a failure in procedures, training, psychology and CRM. Human factors, gentlemen - focus on these.
Originally Posted by
Old Carthusian
....The debate about trim, types of laws etc and whether the aircraft has an influence on the accident is sterile and irrelevant
But I disagree 100% on the parts of your post about the machine, and responsibilities associated to it, which include the procedures that only a manufacturer can develop.
The machine was brought to an extreme state, by a convergence of elements in which the machine itself, and procedures known at the time, had a complex contributing role. As a recovery from that extreme state was not successful, it was a fatal state. Such a scenario was never tested before, and the machine's behavior was not known in its totality. The machine is known better now, and the important resources spent to recover and analyze the CVR, FDR and parts of the machine were worth for that reason as well.
The procedures have been already changed. Recognizing the machine's contribution is a very important element for the improving and progress of technology, to avoid a repetition with the same type of machine, or for making new generation safer machines.
It's one of the elements that moves the technology forward. Not recognizing that would be a big failure for the technologists, for the manufacturers, for the industry.