DW writes,
That's a little harsh - he was of below average ability by all accounts, but by the very nature of the way statistics work, that's going to be true of 50% of all transport-category pilots in the world. If anything, that's an even bigger incentive to minimise other risks (such as fatigue), surely?
Chest thumping feels so much better. The sad part is that these people are chest thumping their profession right into the dust bin of history.
If it is too expensive to keep all the navigation aids in service full time and there is no good way to save the passengers from the 50% of pilots who are always below average (except in Lake Woebegone) then the only sane solution is to go to the fully automated aircraft and kiss the piloting profession goodbye.
FTYSI writes,
Such a contraption only serves to shift the human factor from the flight deck to the programmers suite...
The manufacturer would be solely to blame when the inevitable happened. The lawyers would never allow it.
But if this chest thumping keeps up the public is going to demand it and the politicans at the end of the day will listen to the voters and not the lawyers.