BOAC,
Beware generalisation -
“They have little idea how to fly manually”
Is
‘they’ a reference to the participants in ‘handling’ accidents, or is it a more general industry-wide view.
Given the number of successful everyday operations the industry does not appear to be suffering handling problems; yet a very few individuals, in specific combinations of circumstance, fail to provide the performance expected of them, for which general they have been trained and examined.
The latter is not the best basis for an industry wide ‘campaign’ on handling, but this must not overlook less available evidence of non-accident problems in normal operations, nor the possibility that we have discovered the tip of an iceberg; how might we know.
Re
‘up’, this assumes that your view (or any operator / regulator) of an airline pilot’s knowledge is the same as yours which defines ‘up’; if it is then how was this obtained, can it be shared, and can it be assured that the views will remain in sync.
You and I are from the same school of flying – perhaps the best in its time. I believe that we were taught airmanship, although not aware of this at the time. As a late learner I have come to appreciate the value of the training, but even some 40 years on I cannot describe what ‘it’ is, or the mechanism of training to achieve ‘airmanship’. However, ‘it’ appears to be a combination of aspects human behaviour and a continuing willingness to learn and improve.