one cannot say how many, simply do not fly commercially and so perhaps, understandably, shout "pilot error" as a reflex. It could turn out to be a far more complex situation than we realise. I've said this before but watch Captain Sullenberger's interview for an eloquent rebuttal of why it is wrong to start screamimg "pilot error". In fact he calls the very term outdated and talks about human factors.
We have arrived at a certain point of automation and "intelligent a/c" where I (as a passenger) will not longer accept "pilot error" as the cause of catastrophic events (and we can be lucky there were "only" 3 fatalities in this case).
Numerous pilots here have pointed out how fundamental errors where made in the simple observation of speed and altitude. And I as a passanger do not want to depend on captains, who may have an hangover, long haul, being from the wrong non-CRM "culture" or simply a bad day and being in the danger of making similar mistakes.
This event has tragically shown that a whole crew can make these kind of mistakes. The question is to the solution.
It could be a better pilot training/qualifications. But sorry, I as a passenger do not know who is flying the a/c. Is it the experienced one or are they basically training newbies in the cockpit and have additional divertion on top of all other problems of human factors?
The a/c had a vector into the ground (short of the runway) which could not be recovered when the stick-shacker went of. It was too late already (and it only warned of the approaching stall).
Yes, the pilots did let that happen. But the plane did, too. And I say the plane should have prevented that or at least warned the crew. The pilots here can say all they want about how simple it is to view airspeed and alt and act accordingly. The fact is: Some pilots didn't.