Salute!
I gotta go with Roul ( newbie on this thread best I can tell) and RR.
I can not claim 20,000 hours ( mostly cruising at 35K and monitoring the autopilot, and taking a break now and then to the bathroom or whatever). I will match my 4,000 hours against anyone here. Except for the ocean crossings, I rarely flew much autopilot except to find a let down chart or something that I had not prepared for. Oh yeah, every two or three hours crossing the ocean I had to snuggle up to a tanker at about 30 or 40 feet away and get some gas. BFD except in a thunderstorm or at night.
The human interface is extremely important. The basic pilot skills are extremely important. If the robots were really good and had some judgement, then I would be O.K. with them. But they are not.
Somehow we have lost a sense of airmanship. It's as much a skill as an attitude. The new planes are more like a video game than an old plane that required touch and feel and basic flying skills. I flew all kinds. The big thing I learned was that basic flying skills counted more than all the computer assistance and such when things turned to worms.
I shall go with Doze and others' opinions that had the pilot just let the plane alone for several seconds, that we would not have this thread or the fatalities. Many contributing factors and design aspects here. We shall see.
I shall not absolve the crew's actions.
But I cut them a little slack due to the Airbus reversion mode sequence and some confusing warning indications. I also submit that the 'bus FBW system is not as "safe" as all the
PR implies.
Gotta go....
Gums