Will blaming fellow pilots help us learn; I doubt it. A more likely conclusion is that because ‘we think that we know' what happened (hindsight and a single focus on the outcome), ‘we’ won’t suffer the same, but how do we know that.
Yes, blaming fellow pilots who commit serious errors of judgement does indeed help us learn; at least those who are willing to learn that is. When I flew high performance U.S. Navy fighters there was a monthly Navy publication containing a column from "Grampaw Pettibone", a salty old fictitious pilot who reviewed accidents/incidents and (when appropriate) put the blame squarely on the pilots. Here's one of many examples posted on line:
http://www.history.navy.mil/nan/gram...om%20jun67.pdf
I read every one of them I could get my hands on and often vowed to myself, "I'll never make that stupid mistake". Guess what. It worked.
I "think I know" what happened in the AA accident and while there were many contributing factors, the single overwhelming reason these guys crashed (assuming the reports are even close to true) is that the pilot flew past half the runway before landing.
I'm quite sure Grampaw Pettibone wrote about this exact screw up more than once. Hindsight is 20/20 but it need not be hindsight associated with YOUR screw-up. Learning from pilots who made serious mistakes (like landing WAY too long) in the past is a good way to learn how to avoid making that mistake yourself. And I know that blaming the guys who screwed up in the past works, because while I have made countless landings in a variety of aircraft, I have NEVER flown past the first half of the runway before making one of those landings. Why? Because when I was just a youngster Grampaw Pettibone told me it was dangerous ............. and stupid.