Originally Posted by
raven11
Hull loss accident statistics resulted in the FAA mandating that an apprentice pilot (i.e. A bare commercial license with a meager 150 hours) is not permitted to set foot in any US regulated commercial jet.
.
Agree that this in place - but can you cite where it was hull loss statistics that made FAA mandate this?
AFAIK it was actually Congress who told FAA to do this, in reaction to the Colgan air crash (which is odd because both pilots were >1,500 hours) i.e. it was an emotional reaction, not a rational one based on data. As the Senator who sponsored it through said - anytime it hit a block he would wheel out the relatives of the dead - he didn't wheel out statistics
I think the age and experience thing is more to do with emotional maturity - 21 year old men have very high insurance premiums on cars because they are risk taking idiots, not because they are technically bad drivers. Air Forces around the world have had no problem pumping out thousands of skilled young pilots when required