Originally Posted by Mouse
the impression that lack of manual handling skills and rigid adherence to SOPs is making things more dangerous the statistics would indicate otherwise.
While automation (and in particular GPWS) has improved safety, lack of manual handling skills and rigid adherence to SOPs are causing the few accidents we are still having.
Originally Posted by Mouse
So if PF had understood the system and PM monitored the application of power by following the SOP then the accident would not have happened.
You can only "memorise" so much out of a book. Had that crew regularly practised bounced landings/touch and goes (the most dangerous thing we do), this would never have happened. It's called muscle memory, and it is why the old-timers still fly the pants off the magenta kids. They did it (or similar) all the time; it was "SOP" to always push up the throttles or look at the N1s to make sure Capt Joe Bloggs did actually push the throttles up.
When did that crew last practice a "startle" touch and go? We do it, canned, in the sim; the last thing you do is pull the nose up immediately. The fact that the Captain did just that indicates to me he was either startled badly or hadn't had much practice at touch and goes. Given that a probable time to get that "Long Landing" is just before or after touchdown, it is incumbent on the operator to make sure that it's pilots could cope with/be good at it. Did it?