A lot of things can happen in 1500h. Never mind the night IMC. You could get stuck in a holding near a big airport due to traffic, wondering if you will have enough fuel to continue. You could get a faulty prop (fiber delamination) that shakes the aircraft so much you wonder if it's gonna hold together. You could loose brake fluid on one wheel during touch down. You could have an inflight engine shutdown over the everglades due to a stuck fuel gauge on a single engine aircraft (just switch tanks and you're good to go again, but my heart stopped...), you could get a cracked fuel pipe, a loose carburettor, a compass with a 30 degree error (yes it does exist), a radio failure...
All this happened to me before I had even 700 hours, and all VFR. This is not being overly unlucky, these are small annoyances that make you learn your priorities, and I had seen none of these in a simulator. Sure, quality training IS important, but let's not confuse a brand new shiny light twin piston with EFIS and autopilot, with quality
training.
I am not alone to think the picture is wrong here, at least in this perspective: What is good training? Beside training styles and shiny hard cover books, besides the brand new EFIS light piston with GPS, it is THE TRANSFER OF EXPERIENCE. So if my instructor had done all (most of) his quality training in a simulator too, where do you get the experience from?
Even with the best training, nobody can replace exposure to real life situations. Try crop spraying, as one poster mentioned here. I have done it for one year on banana plantations in Africa, and no training or simulator will EVER replace that. Agricultural air work in the bush will sure teach any sim mogul a few things about piloting skills, precision flying, and the definition of a close shave.
Island flyer, I agree that training standards should improve, but I disagree with the statement that more flying hours has nothing to do with Colgan story. These pilots acquired their early experience (below 1500h) ALREADY operating with passengers in a regional, affiliated to a larger carrier. Not the way to go in my opinion.
There are various reasons the captain of a big jet is required to have more hours, way more than the mere 1500 needed for an ATP certificate. Insurance companies: they play also a critical role in defining experience requirements, because they run all their business on statistics.
I have been a trainer and a checker in flight and in the sim for a few years now, and the quality training (such called refering to big brand names) brings no more no less of a good pilot than the local flying club. I have found it's the motivation, the passion, the drive to learn and discover that makes the difference in a proficient individual. Not how much he/she can pay to get to the most prestigious school.
There is a problem I see with the "train to proficiency" concept. Of course every pilot must be proficient to the required standards. But I have seen sons of embassadors spending 18 months to do a PPL...they are not motivated, have unlimited reserves of cash, after 5 or 6 years, they will be trained to proficiency... but they engage no interest in what they do. They will remain pilots with poor skills, poor judgement, and just this feeling of entitlement and arrogance.
I read once "Good judgment comes from experience, unfortunately experience often comes from bad judgement..." maybe it was here on PPrune (a thanks to the forgotten quoter). Here is another one: 'Experience is the thing you acquire just after the moment you needed it..."
When was the last time anyone got really scared in the simulator?
