alouette3
I am amazed at the tiptoeing going on around here.With the exception of TC,everybody here seems to want to give the pilot a get -out- of -jail -free card.
Who?
People have expressed different opinions about texting but no-one has tried to defend what the pilot did.
if we keep trying to blame ATC,Cranes,Culture and what have you,we will have another one of these in short order.
If we keep focusing only upon what the pilot did and don't bother to explore the factors that led, or might have led, him to do it we will have another one of these in short order.
Who's blaming ATC?
The AAIB are concerned about the proliferation of very tall cranes along the river. Are they wrong?
If you think there's no culture problem you are either very much mistaken or it's very different in your part of the world.
We all know what the pilot did, he pushed his luck/tempted fate in poor visibility, but as Piltdown Man and others have said in different ways 'We need to know why, not just what.'
TC
PM: You are not listening are you. Try not to look for something that is not there.
He is listening. He just doesn't agree with you.
With genuine respect for your very long experience as both a Navy and ASU pilot, saying 'Don't be over confident', 'Learn from this' etc, whilst obviously sound advice, is too simplistic. People have been saying 'Learn from this' for years and yet these accidents still happen.
Is it not even worth considering whether there are other factors (in addition to over confidence/a belief that it won't happen to them) that lead pilots to do it?
And, if there are, trying to remove or reduce the effect of those factors?
H.