Such a wringing of hands, (no pun intended) and gnashing of teeth around here for the incident. How many not physically handicapped pilots fly perfectly fine aircraft into terrain. Sometimes a Captain or even FO very suddenly becomes incapacitated or even dies on short final...... Are the nattering nabobs calling for increased standards and increased monitoring and vigilance of medical standards for all pilots?? I would guess not. Probably one of the first actions taken by pilots for an airline so affected by a pilot actually succumbing in flight is a check of the seniority list.
Is there a call by many that supposedly non handicapped pilots of modern jets actually be taught and checked hand flying skills, with perhaps some emphasis on how to fly, say an A330 by hand at altitude, and visual approach and landing skills for some 777 "fliers"?
And mods, before you deep six this post, as I again post a quote attributed to Flybe senior management that the Dash 8 incident pilot was a senior pilot and "one of its' most experienced and trusted pilots." That definition should be appropriate to define any Airline Captain, and certainly from the perspective of senior management.