Flight Managers not Pilots
We live in a politically-correct world.Airlines dont want stick and rudder men anymore.They want flight managers.Full automatics are mandated into the SOP's.Pilots never get the chance to fly the damn thing.The bean counters want free or cheap labor in the right seat and theres a waiting pool of muffins with 200 hours ready and willing to be exploited.The demise of the unions facilitates it all.
So many accidents prove the woeful state of the industry and more are waiting to happen.The AF and Buffalo crash where the pilot pulled instead of pushed,the Congonhas disaster where a pilot didnt notice that one of his engines was in CLIMB THRUST on landing,the Turkish AMS crash where pilots didnt monitor their number one flight parameter(airspeed),the countless overruns from India to Indonesia to Europe.
The way forward is to mandate a return to basics.Replace the flight manager with the traditional pilot,make manual flying with T scan and no FD manadatory,teach pilots to calculate and follow their own profile below 100 without ref to the magenta line or FMC.Teach them to fly again.These skills deteriorate quickly if not used.
Make SOP's and this QAR monitoring programme servants of the flight deck again,not the master.Pilots afraid to fly because of infringing SOP's or being hung out to dry by the QAR monitoring team are counter-productive yet theyre hailed as pro-safety.People cant see the forest for the trees.
When you see the video of this overrun or read the Air India Express accident you wonder just what the hell has happened to the industry.Where are the skills gone?Wheres the judgment gone?Who's teaching these guys to make such basic errors?