You tried burying someone recently?
The main difference, however, is that the screw-up of an individual doctor is not likely to result in the demise of a few hundred people, and the associated aftermath of such an occurrence.
HAROLD SHIPMAN.....OK, an extreme case , but the rules, regulations and procedures that have been put in place are mind-boggling. Basically, it's all about being absoloutely certain that the deceased died through natural of fully understood causes (that's why cremation can be even more difficult, as the "evidence" is destroyed irrevocably.
AF447 is arguably a result of a crew who were ill-trained and perhaps not "naturals" at the job and relatively inexperienced on type...see previous posters comments on Hamble /selection.
The cynic in me , says the Actuaries (Insurance bean-counters) KNOW the situation, run the figures and are quite content to sit back and watch the profits mount,whilst paying out the factored-in claims.
The sad truth is, this is no longer an elitist PROFESSION......It's a Public Transport job.....Any Oik with the resources and a modicum of fitness and intelligence can become a jet-jockey.
Unless the selection-process becomes extremely selective and the passenger-demographic reverts to the well-heeled and the number of aeroplanes plying for trade reduces dramatically, things WILL get worse.
the above scenario just isn't going to happen in our lifetimes....maybe in a couple of centuries when fuel stocks become precious.....meanwhile, as a previous poster alluded......flying, to the average punter, is a glorified coach-trip with wings.
Too many personnel chasing too few jobs,,it won't right itself and the boom to soak up the surplus, -well, it ain't happening for a loooooong time!