The PM called 'pitch' according to his EFIS reflecting an incorrect manoeuvre by the PF
Thanks SP. I saw that CRJ accident report today. It confirmed my assertion that calling "Pitch" meant little to the PF. if the PM had called "Pitch very low" it would have made sense and maybe (speculation perhaps) it would have had the effect of causing the captain to quickly compare the standby ADI to his own ADI and that of the co-pilot's, and then take appropriate action. That is of course if he had the required pure flying skill to do so.
From my experience in simulators, 95% of exercises are flown on full automatics and pilots come out of the simulator proud they have done a good job of flying. Boxes ticked and all that. They conveniently forget it was the autopilot that did the good job - not necessarily the programming pilot. Automation addiction is seductive.
It could be argued the captain of the CRJ lacked currency in manual raw data instrument flying and paid the ultimate price. 15 minutes of manual instrument flying in a simulator every six months means nothing in the real world.
Illusions pose a significant hazard in aviation as both crew can suffer at the same time.
Sensory illusions are often offered up as a possible cause of IMC accidents. A convenient catch-all maybe? Easy to say but impossible to prove. I believe lack of basic manual instrument flying skills are much more likely to be contributory causes of IMC accidents