Originally Posted by
Lonewolf_50
Scan problems and poor hand flying are related to one another. The concern this accident raises in my mind is linked to the standing complaint about "Children of the Magenta line:" how pervasive is the skill limitation exposed by this particular crew?
That's just it though - I think that a lot of posters here are putting too much into this "Children Of The Magenta" scenario, which is not necessarily the case. After all, the ex-Air Force Captain of the Birgenair B757 did exactly the same thing as the AF447 crew, and he was a veteran.
And let's not forget, there are far fewer smoking holes with automation at this kind of level than there were when handflying was more prevalent in the early part of the jet age.
Frankly a lot of this "much better in my day" routine (the "magenta" talk often overlaps with disparaging remarks on new 200hr cadets) smacks to me of people who miss their youth, then see the ongoing changes in their industry - and it makes them feel old. No-one enjoys that feeling - but I swear there's a lot more to this case and others that have been conveniently swept into the "Magenta" pile without sufficiently examining the evidence at hand. Dismissing pilots and crews as generally 'incompetent' is a little dangerous, as it can lead to complacency - "After all", thinks Captain Hypothetical, "I'm not incompetent, so it could never happen to me!".