PJ, thanks. Missed Bob H in my comments. The weight of the world was on his shoulders...
Doz,
Conversely when things go wrong, more often than not at least some of the factors can be traced to poor application of CRM fundamentals. Not just in cases such as BEA548 and Tenerife where the autocratic tendencies of the flight commander rendered the rest of the crew's input moot, but also cases like Palm 90, where the FO was in fact more experienced in jet operations than his Captain (who was far from autocratic in this case) and yet provided only token protests at a situation he knew was becoming unsafe; and EAL401 in which the whole crew allowed a minor technical problem to distract them - to the extent that no-one was monitoring the aircraft. Most if not all of these pre-date the initial heyday of CRM, but would you not say the principles still apply?
I think that is the point PJ and I, and some others are starting to make. The application of CRM in itself doesn't make for a competent pilot, but a competent pilot without CRM is a PITA and has potential safety issues. Problem solving when you have a failure of the basic ability to aviate a J3 Cub is going to end badly. Have watched crews run all the decision making protocols to ground while going around in a circle, until the engines run dry. 3 out of 3 crews... checked by the training organisation associated with the non airbus company, driven to distraction. Have personally called for an emergency checklist and received a suggestion we contact the company some 2000nm away over the ether... the failure of the A.N.C. priority and the vice like grip on the trivial does not make for safer operation, in fact, my suspicion is we have descended into the rabbit hole and are now confronted by the surreal situation that the pilot ain't a pilot. Not a case of automation vs manual driving, just having crew that have actually flown real aircraft and understand implicitly how they work. Kind of like motorcycling... all the reading in the world won't make up for actually getting out there and having the experiential immersion and skinned knees.